United As Three
by RJF
Summary: Complete. Sequel to A Power Divided. Phoebe returns with a husband and son, Paige is on a demon vanquishing vendetta fueled by anger. Pamela struggles with a secret, Emma seeks companionship, and Piper is suspicious of her younger sister.
1. Paige's Princess Phase Part 1

**I hope you guys liked the final chapter of "A Power Divided"! Because I sure enjoyed writing it! But here it is, the one that I've been going on about since I decided on the name! Here is… "United As Three"!**

**Pyrena** – Thanks! And you know the Halliwell's, nothing stays perfect for long! I hope you enjoy this story as much as the last one! And I can't wait to see the final chapters of "Destiny"! Will there be a sequel?

**Ravenix** – Thanks! I'm glad you enjoyed it! And I will be releasing more and more information about Mutant X as I go through the story, but there's some in this chapter!

**S.halliwell24** – Thanks! Here's the sequel! And I'm been thinking about how Brennan will fit in, although you won't see it for a while, since we have a whirlwind of a start to this story! If you reread "Witch Swap Part 2" from the last story, you'll find out why Paige has doubts.

**Princess Pinky** – Heh… They could be, but you'll have to wait and find out! I really liked how the finale's turned out! And you'll learn who the rest of MX is in this chapter! Andy will be a recurring character, but not for a while yet! I can't wait to start writing his and Pam's feelings!

**Prince Halliwell** – Thanks! I thought Connor vanquishing Ashlocke would be quite ironic! And you know the Charmed Ones; no one hurts their kids and gets away with it! And you'll have to read on to find out about Paige's children! Phoebe will be keeping secrets for a while now, but Piper will start to notice some small errors on her part!

**Phoebe turner** – 6 hours? Wow… I had no idea my story was so long! I'm glad it kept you hooked and I hope this one will too!

**Piperfairy** – Yes, it's only a forty chapter, as will be this one! I'm glad you liked the finales! They're the longest chapters in the entire story! And you'll need to read to see about Aidan and Paige!

Here are the character's ages and powers! Enjoy!

**Piper Halliwell Wyatt** – _33_ – Temporal Stasis, Molecular Acceleration, Imperviousness, Intangibility, Invisibility, Geokinesis.

**Phoebe Halliwell Mulwray** – _31_ – Clairvoyance, Levitation, Empathy, Telepathy, Telempathy, Psionic Blasts, Various Mental Abilities.

**Paige Matthews** – _29_ – Orbing, Telekinetic Orbing, Healing, Telekinesis, Astral Projection.

**Brennan Mulwray** –_33_ – Electrokinesis, Jet Propulsion, Electrical Field Generation.

**Leo Wyatt** – _Age Unknown _– Orbing, Electrokinesis, Healing, Self-Healing, Levitating, Various Divine Abilities.

**Emma DeLauro** – _28_ – Telempathy, Psionic Blasts, Various Mental Abilities.

**Pamela Walker** – _17_ – Advanced Telekinesis, Molecular Acceleration, Cryokinesis, Clairvoyance, Possession.

**Wyatt Matthew Halliwell** – _5_ – Orbing, Shield Generation, Thought Projection, Healing, Telekinetic Orbing, Full Extent Of Powers Unknown.

**Christopher Perry Halliwell** – _3_ – Orbing, Telekinesis, Molecular Acceleration.

**Connor Halliwell Mulwray** – _1 month_ – Electrical Field Generation, Electrokinesis, Full Extent Of Powers Unknown. 

**Paige's Princess Phase Part 1**

"Hey, why don't we stop here? I'm starving!"

Phoebe opened her eyes to look at what Brennan was talking about. They were only a few hours away from the city and she wasn't keen to stopping, but she looked in the back seat and saw her son beginning to get restless so maybe a stop would be a good thing.

"Sure, but let's sit outside with the food, I think Connor's getting cabin fever in this car,"

'Okay,' Brennan turned and the car wheeled into the dusty parking lot of the small diner. It reminded Phoebe of the diner she had stopped at on the way to Sanctuary, but she knew that it hadn't been rebuilt, since Emma had told her before she went back to San Francisco, she had seen the ruins.

The psionic balanced Connor on her hip while Brennan opened the trunk and pulled out the stroller. Once she was satisfied that her son was strapped in safely, she pushed him over a bench table and turned to her husband.

"I'll feed Connor while you get the food, okay" she said as she bent down and got a towel out from the carrying tray of the stroller.

Knowing what she meant, Brennan nodded and walked inside, getting his wallet out on the way. Phoebe slung the towel over her shoulder so half her chest was covered, then she opened her top slightly. Pulling Connor out of the stroller, she eased him under the towel and he began to feed.

She began thinking about the past week, and how much of a change it had been to from hectic to calm as soon as they killed Ashlocke. Phoebe and Brennan had gotten married in this time. Neither of them had wanted a big ceremony, so had just been them and the rest of Mutant X, past and present Mutant X.

When she felt it was over, Phoebe put Connor back into the stroller and buttoned up her top, just in time for Brennan to come out with a tray of food.

"Okay! Grub's up!" he said proudly as he laid the tray down. Phoebe's sparkled with excitement; she hadn't eaten a cheeseburger and fries for ages! She made a grab for one of the paper covered items and began to tear off the wrapping. "You hungry?" The elemental said with a smirk.

"Mm… A little bit, but this is nothing compared to Piper's cooking," She smiled, "I can't wait to eat some of her food again!"

"Piper's the… Oldest sister, right?" he squinted his eyes as if he was thinking.

"Right!" she laughed and put her hand on his, "Thanks you for coming back with me. No matter where I go, San Francisco is still my home,"

He clasped her hand; "Sure, I don't really think that a cave is the best place for a baby anyway! And he should go up with his family around him, and Riley and Cassy are there with Lexa and Jesse, so they'll be fine without us! Don't you miss them?"

"Yeah, I love Lexa and everyone… But I guess we couldn't stay there forever, do you hate me for dragging you away from Sanctuary?"

He leaned over the table and kissed her gently, "With my family, I would go to hell and back,"

She smiled, "That's good, because with my family, you're going to going down there quite a lot!"

* * *

"Left!" Paige ordered.

Emma spun the wheel of her car sharply to the left, the tires screeching on the tarmac as the car turned to the corner. She blew a strand of hair out of her face in exasperation while Pamela clung onto the back seat for dear life.

"Guys, this might be a bad time to mention that I get car sick!" Pamela squeaked.

Emma looked in the rear view mirror, "I'm sorry hun, you can sit out the next one, okay?" the young Halliwell nodded weakly, "We wouldn't be doing this if Paige would just deal with her grief,"

"What grief? Right!" she shouted another direction, "Faster!"

"You know what grief I'm talking about! And you're lucky we're on the back streets or I would have been pulled over by now!"

They were now driving into a very narrow alleyway; Emma had drive carefully yet swiftly so she didn't clip the side of her Honda CR-V in the walls.

"Stop!" the psionic slammed down on the brakes and the car screeched to the halt, smoke coming from her tyres.

"You are so paying for a new set of tyres when you stop running away from your problems," Emma spat, Paige just ignored her and got out the car. The demon that she had scryed was currently holding an innocent up by the throat with a claw. The demon had pale skin and had black eyes with no mouth. Purple spots covered its body as he roared out of the place where its mouth should be. It was hideous.

"Run!" Paige yelled to the freed innocent, who scurried down the alleyway, falling several times. The creature opened his claw and an energy ball flew out, Emma quickly used her telempathy and the energy ball flew round the witches and came back on the demon, who only stumbled slightly.

"I can handle this…" Paige growled, she threw her arm up and the demon went flying into the wall.

"For Gods sake, your both as bad as each other!" Pamela snarled, flicking her hands and sending the demon into a thousands pieces and into a pile of dust on the ground.

Paige grinned and turned to the others, "Okay, next demon!"

* * *

"Okay Wyatt, have a good time!" Piper kissed her son on the cheek and he walked out of the door to his friend Seth's mother. They had been friends since the day Wyatt had started Magic School.

"Don't worry Piper, I'll have him back for seven,"

"Thanks Denise, you boys have fun now, okay?" Piper looked down at the boys before Denise teleported them out. The oldest Halliwell stood at the door for a moment and saw Emma's car flying into the driveway at amazing speeds. Paige stomped up the stairs of the front yard and breezed past her sister as she entered the house,

"Sure Paige, come on in!" she said sarcastically to herself.

Emma's nostrils flared, "You need to talk to your sister!"

"What's the matter? You fountain of patience running dry?" Piper smirked.

"Yes! Look, Paige is my best friend, and I love her, but she has to stop this… rampage she's on and deal with her feelings!"

"I'm for that…" Pamela walked into the foyer slowly, she was holding her stomach and her face was green.

"Aw… Honey, I didn't know you got motion sickness!" Piper stroked the back of her niece's head.

She grinned, "Well, you learn something new everyday. Excuse me while I… throw up my breakfast, lunch and last nights dinner," she walked upstairs.

"Mommy, can I get a dwink please?" Chris tugged at his mother's pant leg.

Emma bent down, "Tell you what Chris, I'll get you something while Mommy goes to talk to Auntie Paige," she hoisted him up and walked into the kitchen. Piper climbed the stairs to the attic and saw her little sibling using her power to fly through the pages of the Book Of Shadows; she seemed to be deep in concentration as she finally stopped on a page.

"Uh… We need to talk," Piper rubbed her hands together nervously.

Paige talked as if she hadn't heard her, " Oh look, that one was called a Leaper Demon, he could open up portals to another world, huh," she said with feigned interest.

Piper slammed her hand down on the book, "Paige, look at me,"

The witchlighter sighed and looked up with narrowed eyes, "What is it?"

"Pretty clever what you're doing here, but vanquishing every demon is San Francisco isn't going to make the pain go away, trust me, I did the same thing when Prue died,"

"This has nothing to do with anger or pain! I'm just trying to weed out the demonic community!"

"That's bull and you know it. Paige, we're here for you, if want to talk about-,"

"Don't you dare say his name…" she snarled.

"About anything…" she finished, "We'll listen, Paige we love you and we don't like seeing like this!"

"Like what?"

"Like nothing is bothering you! Like nothing can hurt you! You're going to end up having a breakdown!"

"Where the hell is this coming from? I vanquish a couple of demons and I'm suddenly on the path of destruction?"

"Yes! Because when you scry for evil, you don't know what it is! It could be someone stealing an old lady's purse, or it could a very powerful evil! You could be killed!" suddenly, there was a crash and a scream from downstairs, "Hold that thought!" she stomped out with her sister on her heels.

Chris was screaming as the Leaper Demon advanced on him, Pamela lay knocked out in the wreckage to the table in the foyer. Emma dropped the glass of juice she was holding and ran into living room, scooping up Chris and holding him close to her chest. The demon threw out an energy ball at the psionic, it hit her just under where she was holding Chris so he wasn't hurt, but the blast sent her crashing into the wall that connected the living and sunroom, she continued to hold onto Chris tightly as she hurtled towards the wall, the wood snapping and smashing as her back made contact with the wall. Emma landed on the other side; she lay in the wooden debris with blood gushing from her head while Chris lay on her chest, unharmed.

Piper came running downstairs and blasted the demon on the shoulder, but he didn't blow up like before, instead he threw out an energy ball which she dodged by vaulting over the stair banister and lying unconscious on the floor. Paige gritted her teeth as the Leaper Demon extended his claw, but a sucking blue portal appeared on the stairs and began to pull her in. After Paige had disappeared, the Leaper demon shimmered out and left the three remaining witches to bleed to death while Chris screamed his lungs out.

* * *

"Piper! Open up!" Phoebe knocked on the Manor door while jiggling Connor on her hip.

"Maybe they're not in?" Brennan suggested and rubbed her shoulders.

"All of them? I don't think so, and the cars are still…" she stopped mid sentence to listen for something, someone was crying inside the house!

"Oh my God! Chris! Brennan, bust the door open!"

"What?"

"Just do it!"

Brennan sighed, but he decided to trust his wife and stepped back slightly, before running at the door shoulder first and making the door swing open with the lock flying to the floor. Phoebe stepped and immediately saw Pamela lying on the ground within the table wreckage; she walked briskly in and saw Chris screaming next to a dying Emma.

"Oh my God… Leo! Leo!" she yelled.

"Auntie Phoebe! Auntie Emma's going to leave us!" he screamed.

"No sweetie, she's not going anywhere. Leo!" she shouted again.

Her brother in law orbed in and his eyes widened when he saw Phoebe, "What the-,"

"Later, this is really bad!"

Leo knelt down and a warm glow emitted from his hands. The blood from Emma's head began to reverse and the gash healed. Emma sat up and blinked a few times as she was smothered in a hug by Chris. Piper came to by herself, as she had only hit her head on the floor. Phoebe knelt down to her sister slowly to make sure that she didn't lose her balance and drop her son.

"Ph… Phoebe?" she breathed.

Connor cooed in her arms and Phoebe smiled, "Yeah, I'm back,"

Piper suddenly put her arms around her little sisters neck and began to weep, 'Oh my God! I've missed you so much!"

"I've you too honey, but can we stand up? Because I'm about to lose my balance and drop my son!"

"What?" Piper stood up with Phoebe, "Your…" she looked at the smiling baby that was balanced on the middle sisters hip.

"Aw…" Piper took the baby from Phoebe's arms and grinned, "How old is he?"

"Almost a month," Phoebe stroked her sons head, "He's called Connor,"

"Hey, little man!" Piper said in a baby voice, Pamela, Emma and Leo surrounded them as Connor giggled at the things his oldest aunt was doing to entertain him.

"Another boy? Looks like I'm getting seriously outnumbered," Pamela smirked.

Piper handed the baby back to Phoebe and looked around, "Uh oh… Does anyone know where Paige is?"

"Speaking of disappearances, what happened?" Phoebe looked around the wreckage.

"Oh, one of Paige's victims came back to bite us in the ass. I though you vanquished it?" Piper asked Pamela.

"I thought I did! It must have reformed after we left because it was dust after I blasted it,"

"I think I had better take the boys to Magic School, they'll be safer there," Leo took his sons hand then went to take Connor.

"Actually, I could take Connor," Brennan stepped in and took his son from Phoebe, "I'll go and check out the house that Jesse got us downtown," he said to his wife. Jesse had managed to get them a house in San Francisco, it had enough room for more than the three of them and that was all that mattered, "I'll come back here after? Okay?"

"Okay sweetie, I'll see you later," she kissed him on the cheek then kissed Connor's head, "You be good, little guy," she watched the two of them walk out of the door.

"You leave for a year and a half and you come back with a son and husband. Only you Pheebs, only you," Piper winked at her sister, who hit her on the arm.

"Okay, I'll see you guys later, it's to have you back Phoebe," Leo smiled before disappeared in a swirl of white lights.

* * *

"Okay, this is definitely the demon that attacked us," Piper tapped the page of the book as everyone sat around the attic in various places; Phoebe paced the room slowly with her arms crossed.

"Does it say what he might have done with Paige?" Phoebe asked.

"Nope… Uh… Upper level demon that needs the life force of innocents to survive-,"

"We must have interrupted his feeding session earlier," Emma jumped in.

"Has the ability to rips holes in time and space… Making portals in other words. Vicious and extremely powerful, and…" she smiled wryly, "Can only be vanquished by the Power of Three! Great…"

"Well…" Phoebe put an arm around her sisters shoulder, "We're two thirds of the way there, we just need to find-," she touched the page and a vision of the past hit her.

_Piper came running downstairs and blasted the demon on the shoulder, but he didn't blow up like before, instead he threw out an energy ball which she dodged by vaulting over the stair banister, hitting her head off the ground and lying unconscious on the floor. Paige gritted her teeth as the Leaper Demon extended his claw, but a sucking blue portal appeared on the stairs and began to pull her in. After Paige had disappeared, the Leaper demon shimmered out and left the three remaining witches to bleed to death while Chris screamed his lungs out…_

"Wow… It's been a while since I've seen that look!" Piper grimaced, "What did you see?"

"Uh… I saw… Paige being pulled into a vortex," she took her hands off of the book.

"Then how are we supposed to find her? There are probably thousands of planes and realms she could be in!" Pamela exclaimed.

"No, no, no, this is good. Now we know what happened, we can reopen the portal and go get her," Piper tried to clam her down.

'We all can't go. We'll need to vanquish the Leaper demon as well," Phoebe added.

"Alright, you and I will go, your hubby and everyone else can hold off the demon until we bring Paige back and everything will be fine!" Piper grinned.

"Hey! We may be powerful, but we can't contend with the Power of Three if that's what's needed to vanquish the demon," Pamela said with a high voice.

"Since when were you afraid of a challenge?" Emma sneered at her.

"Since I heard that this thing could send all into our own little world!"

Phoebe began flipping the pages, "Okay, there's a spell that can conjure a past object in it's original place, that would be the stairs and it's not a powerful spell so any of us can use it," she turned to her fellow psionic, "Can you get Brennan up to speed when he comes back?" Emma nodded, Piper looked between the two of them.

"Okay, do the three of you have some sort of history?"

Phoebe kept her eyes locked on Emma, "I'll explain to you later," she touched Piper's shoulder. Emma and Pamela and walked down the stairs with the two Charmed Ones behind them. Piper turned around to face her sister,

"I may have missed a lot of you life, but you've missed a lot of ours,"

Phoebe nodded slowly, "I know… And I'm going to make up for that…"

* * *

Everyone stood at the bottom of the stairs; Piper and Phoebe had the spell in their hands while Leo looked in the book for anything that might help the remaining magical beings to stop the Leaper Demon.

He got up, "I think we've got all the Book can offer, I'll go check with the Elders and see what they know," Emma turned away from the brightness of his orbs as he disappeared.

"Brennan will be able to help you guys when he comes back from the house," Phoebe said to her niece and friend.

"Okay, we'll have some good old uncle daughter bonding," she joked. Phoebe and Piper turned back to the wall at the stairs; they had drawn a triquetra on it to act as their portal.

"What once was, shall be anew,

Along with, all hope too,"

"That is a really crappy spell…" Piper sneered at the paper and threw it to the ground. The triquetra glowed and a portal appeared in its place, it wasn't nearly as violent as the one the demon had created.

"Let's go sis," Phoebe took her sisters hand and ran into the into the portal, their bodies turning into two blue lights and flowing into the vortex.

* * *

Brennan turned the key in the lock and opened the door to his new home. After driving along the street, he realised why Jesse had picked it, it was in the centre of suburbia and the perfect place to raise a child. He had seen little kids cycling around the neighbourhood on small bikes, while their parents took advantage of the sunshine and worked on their front yards. It was like Wisteria Lane from "Desperate Housewives" without the murders and suicides, he hoped!

"Okay buddy…" he walked into the living, "What do you think?" he held Connor up to his eye level. The baby cooed in his arms, "Yeah, it's pretty good!" he was about to walk into the centre of the room, when white lights filled the room and around twenty cardboard boxes filled the floor. The boxes were marked with things like "Phoebe's Tops" and "Brennan's Jeans". The elemental eyed a box with no marking, he turned it around the laughed, the box was marked "Unmentionables" and there was a winking smiley face drawn underneath it.

Brennan laughed, "Thanks Jess…"

The next room he inspected was the kitchen; a large window let tons of sunlight in and a fitted dishwasher made him grin. Looking up, he saw that the lighting fixture was hanging out of the ceiling, he frowned and went over the to the switch and flicked it, but nothing prepared him for what was to happen next. A channel of sparking blue electricity flew from the light and took the form of a person; it was if it was a man made form electricity!

Instinctively, Brennan stood sideways to protect Connor who had already raised his shield around him and his father. Brennan lit up a tesla coil in his hand threw it at the creature, but it absorbed the electrical energy and became even bigger. Realising that his powers wouldn't work on this demon, he looked around for anything he could use. He suddenly saw that the electric man had a trail of electricity leading back to the light on the ceiling; he fired a bolt at the light in an attempt to cut off the demon's power supply. It let out a piercing scream and shrunk back quickly into the light.

Brennan looked around fearfully before trying to walk out of the house calmly.

* * *

Piper and Phoebe rolled along the leaf-covered ground and sat up, blinking a few times before looking at their surroundings. The portal had landed them in the middle of a forest; the sky was a meek grey and the entire forest looked bland, a thin mist impairing the view of the further away areas. Phoebe brushed the soil and leaves off of the sleeves of her brown suede jacket and got onto her feet.

"Ugh… Why do I always land in the mud?" Piper looked at her beige leather jacket and saw that the elbow of it was covered in gooey mud.

"C'mon, we need to find Paige, she must have landed somewhere nearby," she strained to pull her sister to her feet, "You been hitting the cookies while I've been gone?" She got Piper to her feet with a triumphant sigh.

"Very funny. Can you sense anything on Pheeb radar?" she smirked.

"Oh, how cute," she responded sarcastically before closing her eyes, "Hmm… My telempathy is the only power that works here… You try,"

Piper made a couple of gestures with her hands, then breathed in a few times. Both of those movements were the triggers for her powers, she stopped breathing and just stood there for a moment, then she suddenly vanished from sight!

"Wow. That's weird, what do the two working powers have in common?" Phoebe asked the space where Piper had last been seen.

The oldest sister reappeared just as quickly as she had disappeared, "Does it really matter? We'll figure out the science of it later, let's just get on to the sister saving," Piper said impatiently as the two of them began to walk in the direction that Phoebe had sensed her younger sibling.

"So, how'd you meet Brennan?" Piper asked absentmindedly.

Phoebe narrowed her eyes, "Nice try to conceal that nitpick. His teammate saved my life and we just clicked,"

"Where have you been all this time?"

It was Phoebe's turn to try and conceal something, "You wouldn't believe me if I told you!"

"Well, I don't care if you were in Timbuktu. I'm just glad that I have a nephew and a brother in law that I can get to know," Piper answered supportively.

The psionic put her arm around her sister's shoulders, "Thanks…"

* * *

Emma turned the pages of the book she was reading lazily while Pamela had the Book Of Shadows out on the coffee table. Leo was on his knees on the foyer, trying to put together the old basinet that him and Piper had used for the boys, he thought that Brennan would be able to use it when he came back.

"Okay, according to this book, there's only one way to kill the Leaper Demon,"

"Lemme guess… The Power of Three?" Pamela rolled her eyes.

"Bingo,"

"Argh!" The young Halliwell flopped back in the sofa and put her hands over her face, "Why do we always seen to have two Charmed Ones, but never three?"

"I dunno, I guess it's just our luck,"

"Yeah, well, your luck's rubbing off on me!" said Brennan, who had recently entered the house with Connor in his arms, wearing a lazy expression on his face.

"Why? What happened?" Emma gave her old friend a look.

"Thanks…" Brennan murmured to Leo as he laid Connor down in the basinet, "On second thought, could you take him to Magic School?"

Leo nodded, "Sure, I'll leave with his cousins and Mrs. Winterbourne," Leo orbed out with his nephew.

"I repeat, what happened?" Emma asked again as Brennan paced the room.

"I swear to God this city's cursed! My wife goes charging through a portal…" Emma had called him to get him up to speed on the situation, "And there's an electrically charged demon living in my new house!"

"Wait, back up to the demon part before you say anymore," Pamela turned to look at him from the couch.

"It was a man made out of electricity and he came out of a light when I switched it on," he relayed the description to his niece.

"Okay, Electrical demon!" Pamela yelled while flicking her fingers at the book. The pages began to move and they stopped on a page entitled "Shocker Demon"

"Are you crazy?" Emma asked her hysterically, "You could have sent an advanced telekinetic wave through the house!"

Pamela snorted, "Relax. That only happens when I use my arms, a little finger movement isn't going to take one of the house walls off!" she held up the book up to her new uncle, "This your critter?"

The Shocker Demon  
_A blue transparent body of energy. Travels through all the things that can lead energy. Able to be in all electric conductions and device to get the goal of the High-Level demons of electricity. Transport itself, shrugging, flying like pure energy. Creating deadly lightning balls and immune against a lot of supernatural powers, roots all of his powers in energy. Shocker demons are one of the best assassin demons and also one of the most uncontrollable beings that exist, sent from the one who has created them._

"Yeah, that looks like it," Brennan cast his eyes over the illustration.

This time, Emma was the one to flop back in her chair, "Ugh… We're up to our warty little noses in demonic problems!"

* * *

The two oldest Charmed Ones hid behind a tree while looking over the building that they had found. It looked like some sort of fort, as the walls were made from big stone blocks and a rusting iron gate stood on the other side of a moat with two guards in front of it. You couldn't see their faces, thanks to the deep crimson cloaks they were wearing.

"I hope to God that you don't sense Paige in there!" Piper hissed.

"Well, actually…"

"This is stupid, if she's in there, why hasn't she orbed out?"

"Because she probably got stuck with one power like us! Now, come on! Don't be a woose and let's go!" Phoebe began to walk out from behind the tree.

"No! Wait! Look!" Piper pulled her back and pointed to two cloaked figures going towards the iron doors. The guards nodded as they saw them coming and the iron door groaned open slowly, "Out of sight, out of mind. Give me your hand!" Phoebe held out her hand and her big sister grasped it, turning them both invisible.

Carefully trailing the cloaked figures that were heading towards the fortress, the two witches were able to sneak in past the guards and into the fort. Once they were inside, they grimaced, but it couldn't be seen in their invisible state. It was just as dark and dreary in here as it was outside! The only source of light was a couple of weak flames that were magically suspended to the cold stonewall. Phoebe led the invisible duo towards where she sensed Paige; they evaded even more cloaked figures and constantly climbed stairs. After a while, the aura of stealth disappeared and Piper stopped to catch her breath.

"I can't use my power for that amount of time," she breathed.

Phoebe cautiously looked around the corner and saw two hooded beings walking towards them. They were so close to where she could sense Paige as well! But the middle Charmed One wasn't going to give up and she used her own power. Phoebe began to fiddle around with the beings emotions with her telempathy, and two creatures suddenly had the desire to walk the other way and away from the girls.

"God, I love this power…" Phoebe grinned, "C'mon, Paige is in that room," she pointed to a set of oak wooden doors. The two of them stood in front of the door and looked at each other.

"You ready?" Phoebe asked.

"Do I have a choice?" was Piper's response.

Phoebe stepped back a bit, before kicking the doors open and storming in behind her big sister, who walked in as soon as her foot had connected with the wood. Nothing prepared them for what they saw.

Paige was sprawled across a sofa, wearing a sparkling dress, which left little to the imagination. A thin band of silver was around her head and a golden pendant hung from it, she had her eyes close and was smiling as one of many topless men picked her grapes and but them into her mouth!

"Paige!" Piper yelled.

Paige's eyes shot open and she sat up. At first her face was like thunder to see who had interrupted her, but as soon as she saw her sisters, she retreated into a nervous, guilty smile.

"Oh… Hi guys!"

* * *

Well, there's your first chapter! Two updates in two days! I rock lol! Anyway, press that purple button in the corner and make my day!

**NEXT TIME:** Angered that her sisters are prepared to take her back against her will, Paige uses her new found authority and throws Piper and Phoebe in the dungeons, where they learn the hooded figures real intentions. Leo and Emma go up against the Leaper Demon in a surprise attack, and Brennan challenges the Shocker Demon for a second time with the help of Pamela.

Chapter 2 **"Paige's Princess Phase"** will be up soon!


	2. Paige's Princess Phase Part 2

**Thanks to all who reviewed but I'm rushing right now and don't have time to proper replies! Sorry!**

**Paige's Princess Phase Part 2**

"Paige, what are you doing?" Phoebe asked.

The youngest Charmed One waved her hand, "Leave us!" all of the men in the room nodded and walked out of the doors, carrying large palm leafs and trays of fruit. Phoebe managed to steal an apple from one of the passing trays and take a bite, which got her a slap from Piper on the arm.

"Isn't this great? Look at this dress!" Paige twirled, the material jingling as she moved.

"I would call it underwear, not a dress," Piper made a face at what her sister was wearing. The top part of it covered the top part of her chest, while leaving her back and abdomen exposed to see. Metal hot pants covered the lower part of her body, with strands of diamond strings running down from her waist and to her ankles.

"Don't be such a prude, Piper! They treat me like royalty here, I love it!"

"Well, sorry Princess, but the ball is over. Where are your clothes?" Piper scanned the room quickly.

"You're not listening to me…" she bowed her head,

"C'mon, you've a new nephew to meet and a new brother in law to judge!" Phoebe smirked at her, while moving her fringe out of her face.

"I know, but-,"

"Ah, screw it. Let's just go home," Piper began to walk out with Phoebe.

"No,"

The older sisters turned round and stared at their younger sibling. "Sweetie, what are talking about?" Phoebe frowned.

Paige walked towards them with a scowl, "I'm not going back, Phoebe. I'm happy here,"

"Paige…" Piper whispered.

"Honey, don't you want to go home? Why? I've missed you…" Phoebe pleaded

She sighed, "You two have everything going for you. Great guys, cute children, jobs you love… My job is hell, all I am is an aunt, and my love life…"

"Why haven't you come to us about all this? Paige, we would have helped you!" the middle sister exclaimed.

"If you haven't noticed Phoebe, you've kind of hard to track down since… oh, I don't know, forever! Piper agrees with me, she's probably more pissed than I am! And what would you have done anyway? Go and yell at my boss? I haven't needed protection like that since the third grade!"

Phoebe turned to the molecular standing beside her, "Is that true? Do you hate me?"

"We'll have words," she replied simply before grinning sweetly at her baby sister, "Paige, you have two choices, you can come back by us dragging you by the hair, or you can stop playing Cinderella and move your ass!"

"Sorry," she backed away, "But you guys leave me with no choice," she waved her arm aggressively towards her siblings and they went into the air and flew through the doorway, landing on the stone floor.

"At least we know what power she got left with," Phoebe said as she stood up.

"Figures she'd get the useful power…" Piper scowled as she brushed off her trousers.

The witchlighter then clicked her fingers, "Throw them in the dungeon!"

Masses of the hooded figures came from either end of the corridor floating towards the two witches. A gentle but foreboding hum resonated from the creatures as they hovered towards the two.

"Uh… Pheebs? Now would be a really good time to do that little "change direction" trick of yours!"

"I can't, there's too many! Turn us invisible!"

But before Piper could take Phoebe's hand, they were captured by the creatures, their cold hands hurting their shoulders as they forced them along the hallway and down a dark flight of stairs.

* * *

"Okay, I think our best bet is to do a "divide and conquer" thing," Brennan suggested to Pamela, Emma and Leo. They been talking for the past hour about how to sort out all of their demonic problems, the Charmed Ones were in another world, the Leaper Demon was still on the loose and a Shocker Demon had taken over Brennan and Phoebe's new place.

"How about you two scry for the Leap Demon while Leo and I take care of the Shocker Demon?"

Both Pamela and Emma grimaced, snorted and did everything to show that they disapproved of this slightly bias plan.

"Are you kidding me? You two can only shoot lightning for an offensive power, which is exactly what that thing needs to get a power boost! Reverse the roles you said and we're fine," Emma folded her arms.

Brennan laughed, "There's no way I'm going to hide behind the two of you in the fight for my home!"

"Brennan," Emma walked towards him, "The Shocker Demon can only be vanquished by the Power of Three, and the last time I checked, a run of the mill witch and an elder were not the Charmed Ones. Me and Pamela, however, are closer to being to that kind of power, she's the daughter of a Charmed One and I'm not your average witch!"

"Okay, that's enough," Leo pushed Emma and Brennan apart, "If can't even decided on where everyone's going, then we have no chance without the sisters!" The elder decided to take control, "Emma, scry for the Leaper Demon. It won't be expecting an attack since it thinks that you're all dead, I'll go with you to vanquish it." He turned to his niece, "You go with your uncle to the house, just freeze the demon with your ice powers, maybe it will hold until your aunts get back?" he suggested.

"What do you think I am? A human freezer? My ice doesn't last for long, it vanishes after about an hour since it's magical, it doesn't melt like normal ice would,"

"Well… Maybe you could shatter it after it's frozen,"

Pamela rolled her eyes, "Fine, I'll try, c'mon newbie," she hit Brennan on the arm, "Let's go hunting," she walked out of the attic door leaving her uncle with a confused look on his face.

"Don't underestimate her. She may look young, but she's got the mental age of a twenty five year old," Leo warned him.

"I heard that!" Pamela's voice came from the attic stairs.

Emma stifled a laugh, "Busted…"

Brennan chuckled and walked out of the door with his hands on the back pockets of his jeans.

* * *

"Paige! You get your ass down here and let us out!" Piper slammed on the wooden door of her and Phoebe's cold stone cell, the only things standing between them and freedom was a stubborn sibling and a think wooden door with a small barred window. The oldest sister shot a glare at Phoebe, "Aren't you going to help?" she asked. Phoebe was sitting on a stone bench with her eyes closed in concentration. Her eyes snapped open, filled with anger.

"I am helping. I'm bombarding her with telempathic messages, but someone keeps yelling!"

"Well, my way is better!" Piper said uncertainty.

"Oh really? Unless Paige can hear you through stone walls, I think me constantly being in her mind is better,"

"Ugh… Who am I kidding? We'll just need to wait until a guard comes,"

"Why? So you can yell at them?" Phoebe smirked.

"No… trust me, I have a plan,"

"Care to enlighten me?"

"Just get your Pheeb radar on the look out for guards," she went back to looking out of the small window.

"So, I guess now is as good a time as any to talk about what Paige said,"

"Before or after she threw us on our asses?" Piper replied tonelessly.

"I mean when she said that you're angry at me,"

The witch fell silent, "Of course not! You followed your dreams, I'm happy for you,"

"Yeah, you see, someone who couldn't get visions of you emotions might believe you. I'm a different story," Phoebe folded her arms.

Piper turned around to face her, "What do you expect from me Phoebe? You leave for a year and a half and you think I'm going to be okay with it? I didn't know what had happened to you, you could have been dead, you could have been captured by demons, you could have been on the moon for all I knew! You don't realise how much you've missed! Emma moving into the Manor, us finding Pam, Aidan even left Paige!"

Phoebe sat down in shock after the last one, "Oh God… That's explains a lot,"

"And the fact that you come back with a new family makes this even worse! I'm happy for you and all, but we have had a lot on our plates and you've just ignored it, and-,"

"Piper." She had to say something to grab her sister's attention.

"What?" She put her hands on her hips.

"I think I have a way to get Paige back." She got back up, "When I was sending messages to her, I got a hit off of something beneath the surface of her mind,"

"Would did you sense?" Piper folded her arms.

"Pain. I mean real pain, something she could only get from a great loss,"

"Obviously. Her boyfriend of a year and a half leaves her for a trident and a crown! I would have blown up both of his-,"

"You don't understand me! She's completely suppressed her emotions, in a normal family, that would be fine, but as we both know, suppressing your emotions in this family can be a lethal killer,"

"What's your suggestion? Or do you even have one?" Piper muttered.

"Believe it or not, I'm still a witch. And yes I do have a plan, but you show me yours and I'll show you mine,"

* * *

"Wow… Welcome to Pleasantville," Pamela smirked as the street passed by the car window.

"Yeah, it's a really nice neighbourhood, I just hope there's a house to move into after we fight this thing," Brennan replied as he turned into the driveway. The two of them walked up the path into towards the door, until they were hailed from someone next door.

"Yoo hoo! Neighbour! Hello there!" a plump, auburn haired woman called from the other side of the fence.

"Um… I'll go check inside. You deal with Miss Jolly over there," Pamela whispered, her uncle gave her a dissatisfied look, "Hey, this is your house, go make nice! Keys," the teen held out her hand and Brennan put the keys in it.

"Hi, nice to meet you, I'm Brennan," he shook hands with the woman.

"Hello there! I'm Bella Hunter! And who was that young girl with you?" she asked kindly, but Brennan saw right through it. Nosey neighbour.

"Oh, that was my niece, Pamela. She's just looking around,"

"I see! I assume you're married? Not many people can afford to live in this area with one pay check,"

Brennan resisted the urge to say something he would regret, "Yeah, my wife Phoebe is… well, she's off in another world at the moment,"

"Oh good!" she looked like she was about to say something else, when a crashing noise came from the house. Brennan nodded respectfully and ran into the house, leaving a very suspicious neighbour.

Brennan run the stairs and found Pamela trapped in a dome of electricity while the demon floated above her, channelling lightning into the dome. The elemental thought quickly and attempted to blast the Shocker Demon with a tesla coil. It screamed at first, but it's pain faded and it began to grow bigger and bigger. Suddenly, a lightning bolt shot from Brennan chest and hit the demon, it was absorbing his powers!

Pamela tried to blast the dome that was keeping her pinned down, but the shield was slowing down molecules faster than she was accelerating them. She knew that there was only one thing to do, standing up, she waved her arm out into the air, a ripple of energy broke the bubble immediately and freed the Halliwell. Pamela blew at the demon, a cloud of chilling frost flying from her mouth and engulfing the Shocker Demon. The lightning stopped pouring from Brennan's chest and he fell to the ground.

Pamela helped the larger man up and blasted the demon on the way out, the ice shattered and the electric being crawled back into the plug socket. Brennan regained his feet at the bottom of the stairs and walked out the house with a slight hobble in his step. The to of them drove away at an amazing speed, unaware of the watchful eye of Bella Hunter looking at them through her window.

* * *

Leo and Emma orbed into the deserted warehouse on the docks, the Leaper Demon had been extremely hard to track down since he could use his own portals to escape and leave this dimension. They heard the strangled screams of someone nearby and ran towards where they were hearing the noise, which was probably fisherman with his "catch of the day"

Sure enough, the demon was choking a man who was wearing fishing clothes. Emma sneered at the back of the creature and threw a vial at it, the demon dropped its victim to the ground, he was unconscious. She threw another potion at the Leaper, but it destroyed it with an energy ball and sent Leo flying into a crate with a telekinetic wave.

Emma fired a psionic blast towards the being, hitting it with powerful psychic energy but even that wasn't enough as the demon just stumbled back a few steps. Attacking again, the psionic tried to wake up Leo from the wooden rubble that he was lying in.

"C'mon, you're a damn angel for Gods sake!"

The elder slowly began to come to and noticed the Leaper advancing on the two of them. He fired a quick bolt of electricity, blasting the demon into the air and landing on the ground. Emma pulled Leo to his feet and two barraged their enemy with lightning and psychic strikes. After taking enough punishment, it wisely shimmered out and left Emma with clenching her fists.

"Dammit!" she growled underneath.

"How much do you think he saw?" Leo gestured towards the knocked out fisherman.

"Ugh… I'll take care of his memory, you better take care of his wounds," Emma said weakly. He complied and knelt down next of the man, a glow shining from his hand sand healing the bruises on the man's neck. Once to came to, Emma fired a psionic blast at his head and he fell to the ground again.

"What do you do?" Leo eyed the limp body on the ground uneasily.

"He'll wake up when we orb out, with no memory of the last hour. Let's to meet with Brennan and Pam and see if they did any better than we did…" he walked over to her and they orbed out with a sigh.

* * *

The Leaper Demon shimmered into the Mulwray household, sniffing the air and grunting to itself after finding what it was looking for. Letting out a roar from the blank space where his mouth should have been, a snake of electricity slithered out of the plug socket and took on the form of Shocker Demon, who prepared itself for an attack.

"Relax my fellow demon, I'm not here to stir you from your home," the Leaper said.

"How dare you enter my domain, what business do you have with me?" the electric demon replied.

"The witches. They have attacked you, have they not?" the Shocker sparked with rage and he took this as an answer, "They attempted a two pronged attack, but how about we attempt a two demon attack?"

"Going against the Charmed Ones? Suicide! Especially with all three back together!" The Shocker spat.

"Ah, but it's not the Charmed Ones we're after, just the ones that attacked us. You seem to still be alive after a confrontation. Double the demon, double our chances,"

The hovering demon seemed to be thinking for a moment, "Very well, alert me when the time is right," he disappeared in a crackle of electricity and the Leaper shimmered out.

* * *

Piper hadn't moved from the cell door since she and Phoebe had formed their plan, the middle sister was sitting in a meditating position, focusing her telempathy to alert then to the first guard that came anywhere near them. Both of them had sat in silence for a long time, both thinking about what they had said to each other and about how to get out of their prison.

"Hey Pheebs, I've been thinking… Do you think it's possible that our powers sorta got… thrown from us during the cross over?"

Phoebe opened her eyes and raised one eyebrow, "Excuse me?"

"Think about it! We used a demonic portal! Anything could have happened,"

"What do you want to do then?"

"Um… Let's try calling for our powers, Phoebe?" Piper frowned at her sister whose eyes glazed over.

"There's a guard coming," she announced.

"Okay! Okay!" Piper went over to her sister and grabbed her hand, turning them both invisible. The guard fumbled with keys and opened the door with a screeching sound, after seeing no one was there, his eyes widened and he ran out of the cell, leaving the door open. Reappearing with a smirk, the two witches tip toed out of the stone room and walked down the corridor. They were forced to stop and hug the wall when two conferring floating beings walked by, their hoods still covering their faces.

"It's almost time for the sacrifice,"

"Yes, once we lead the witch down here, our leader shall rise again,"

They continued to float along leaving the two invisible women gaping on shock. Piper let go of Phoebe's hand the two of them returned from their invisible form.

"Oh God… We have to find Paige and fast,"

Piper smiled as if to say "Obviously!" and ran up the stairs with Phoebe in tow.

* * *

Paige sat on the long luxurious couch on her throne room, one of her many new servants worshipping her, one was rubbing her feet, one was gently waving a palm leaf and another was picking her grapes. Any other woman would have thought that this was a dream come true! But not Paige. She had been wracked with guilt ever since she had sent her sisters to the dungeon, especially Phoebe since she hadn't seen her in such a long time; it was then she made a decision.

"Bring my sisters to me immediately!" she clicked her fingers.

"No need, Princess," A voice came from behind the door, before it blew up became a shower of wood splinters. Piper and Phoebe walked through the cloud of floating sawdust, Piper had her hands up, indicating she had been the cause of the explosion, "We'll come to you…" She finished her sentence.

"Piper…? How did you escape? And how did you get your powers back?" Paige stood up.

"Calling for our powers. They were redirected during the flight, but we got them back," Phoebe explained smugly.

Suddenly, all of the men in the room fired energy ball after energy ball at the two intruders. The sisters protected themselves by freezing and using telempathy to redirect all the attacks, the onslaught ceased after most of the men had been killed by their own energy balls, but after the dust had settled, Paige was no where so be seen!

"How did they escape?" Phoebe looked around the battlefield.

"Beats the hell out of me, we would have seen them pass us by the door," Piper replied.

They looked around for a minute until Phoebe sighed and pointed to a gaping hole at the back of the room, "I'm willing to bet my new house that that leads to wherever they're sacrificing Paige,"

"And I'm not willing to bet against that. Let's go,"

* * *

Leo walked back into the attic after being on the phone to Seth's mother, asking her if she could keep Wyatt for a little longer until everything was sorted out. Brennan and Pamela had been unsuccessful in their crusade, as had Emma and Leo, they had probably only pissed off the powerful creatures and would have to wait until the three girls got back until they could do anything about it.

"Is Denise going to keep Wyatt for a little while longer?" Emma asked, Leo nodded.

"Um… Okay, why don't we just trap them in the crystals until my aunts get back?" Pamela thought aloud, they had all been thinking of ways to vanquish both of their demonic problems.

"But what's to stop the Leaper from just opening a portal and going somewhere else? Ugh… we can't contain it, we can't vanquish it, we're powerless," The psionic flopped back in her chair.

"When did you give up so easily?" Brennan said with disgust.

"Since I was brought into the world where evil isn't always human like the old days…" she glared at him. Pamela looked between the two with confusion.

"Okay, seriously! What is it with you two?"

"Nothing," they said in unison.

A cold wind began to blow through the attic, making everyone jump up and look around for anything unusual. Pamela just let out a snort and went to close an open window, but when she got close, something sent her flying into the pedestal of the Book Of Shadows. Brennan went to help up his niece when an electrical dart hit him in the chest and sent him flying into an old dresser, smashing it in the process. The Leaper and Shocker demons appeared out of thin air and advanced on the remaining magical beings.

"How did they turn invisible?" Emma shrieked.

"They must have found a way to tap into each other's powers and become stronger!" shouted as he fired a lightning bolt at the Leap, but it changed direction at the last moment and the Shocker Demon absorbed the lightning. Pamela scrambled to her feet and thrust out her hands, blasting the Leaper back with a small explosion. Brennan recovered as well, sending a tesla coil at the same demon Pamela was attacking. The Shocker tried to attack, put Pamela blew ice from her mouth and froze the electrical spirit in the air.

All of them looking triumphantly at what they had done, until the Leaper Demon got back up and Shocker Demon unfroze, then all of them were thinking the same thing.

Crap.

* * *

Piper and Phoebe ran down the stairs of the dark passage way as they attempted to reach Paige. After Phoebe had sensed her down her, the psionic had been taking the lead from Piper as she new the way and was a lot quicker on her feet. They reached the bottom; there was a thick plate of metal in the middle of the dark and dank chamber. Paige stood on the top of it while the hooded figures stood around her, chanting in low voices.

"What are we gonna do?" Phoebe hissed.

"Storm in," Piper said confidently, walking proudly towards the demons and letting from be fully aware of her presence.

"The prisoner!"

"How did she escape?"

"Seize her!" One of the more organised demons cried.

"Paige! Call for your powers and help us!" Piper shouted as the demons ran towards them, she saw Paige nod and her lips, move, she was saying the spell. Phoebe ran out to join her older sister and fired a psionic blast at the firs attacker, who flew back into his allies and knocked them down like bowling pins.

"I told you I would make up for lost time," Phoebe muttered to her sister.

"Killing one demon doesn't make up for that…" Piper muttered back, throwing her hands over Phoebe and blowing up another demon. Paige lit up the area by appearing in a train of orbs,

"Okay, any mass vanquishing spells?" She asked, Phoebe wordlessly took her sisters hands and used the only spell she knew.

"Within this chamber, darkness romes,

Destroy all evil within this dome!"

All of the hooded figures stopped in their tracks, light suddenly bursting from their faces and hands as they writhed in pain. One by one, each of them exploded and left a small scorch mark on the ground.

Paige turned around to face her sisters, tears streaming down her face, "I'm sorry…" she whispered, "I've been so stupid!" she cursed to herself.

Phoebe's eyes began to well up and pulled her baby sister into a tight and loving hug, "No… I'm sorry, none of this would have happened to I had been here, I'm so sorry…" the two of them cried onto each others shoulders until Piper joined in, weeping and babbling with her sisters.

* * *

Pamela blew a frost cloud at the incoming energy ball, the Leaper was still going strong and so was his partner, while Brennan tapped all of his power hitting the Leaper Demon while Leo healed a knocked out Emma. Brennan had resorted to slashing both demons with a sword he had found in the now ruined attic. A downed Emma had got up and attempted to fire a psionic blast, but it fizzled out immediately and she fell to the ground, none of could use their powers for this long and Pamela was almost tapped as well. Then, as if something had answered their prayers, the Charmed Ones walked confidently through a recently opened portal, Piper leading them with Phoebe and Paige behind her.

"Time for a Power of Three comeback?" Phoebe suggested with a smirk.

"You read my mind," Piper smirked back without taking her eyes off of the enemy. The three of them knew what to do and began to chant their spell.

"The Power of Three will set us free,

The Power of Three will set us free,

The Power of Three will set us free,

The Power of Three will set us free,

The Power of Three will set us free!"

Both demons let out a piercing scream of agony before disappearing instantly, the three sisters smiled and looked at they're handy work. Paige turned to her sisters.

"Looks like we're back!"

* * *

**Okay, I have 7 minutes to upload this so this is really rushed!**

**NEXT TIME:** After Pamela goes to extreme lengths to protect a demon, a small chuck of her past is revealed. Phoebe get increasingly annoyed with their new neighbour and determined to make the most of her summer, Emma begins to train of the San Francisco Marathon.

Chapter 3 **"Meet The Walkers"** will be up soon!


	3. Meet The Walkers

**Okay, here it is guys! I've been busy so it took a while, but now I'm back with this chapter! And I have decided on a new power for Paige, it will be revealed after the twins are born!**

Unique deflection – Thanks! And you'll see about the neighbour! And I don't plan on doing an Elemental story, if I was it would probably be after I finish this series.

Princess Pinky – Ugh! I know! I had a neighbour who would come into my house without even knocking, talk about rude! And I think that Pamela is really mature for her age, I hope I write her like that! I thought I would use that spell since it stands for basically everything that the Power of Three is! And Paige is a lot more like Prue than she realises, don't you think?

Prince Halliwell – Yeah, I want Brennan to feel part of the family! And the twins won't show that many powers, I don't want to give away who their father is! And I felt that Phoebe was out of commission for most of the last fic, so they'll be born a bit earlier, when you're writing with magic, anything's possible…

Phoebe turner – You'll see about Paige, but she won't end up alone!

**Meet The Walkers**

Pamela walked into the dark attic and zipped up her black jacket just enough the two sides of the collar to spread out across her chest, showing the navy blue top that she wore underneath. Taking a piece of paper out of her black cargo pants, she looked around with a steely gaze, making sure no one was around, she knew that no one in the house would be up at five a.m. but it was better to be safe and sorry. Wordlessly pulling a piece of chalk from the other pocket, she threw it into the air and made a series of gestures with her fingers to make the chalk draw a triquetra onto the wall. Looking around once again, she unfolded the paper in her hand and started to say the spell.

"With all the power I hold in me,

Take me to those I wish to see,"

A familiar cold wind encircled her, and the wall where the Charmed symbol was drawn rippled silently. This was mainly why Pamela used this spell, it was quiet. She put the paper into her back pocket and walked into the invisible portal.

She reappeared in a cave, tribal drawings covered the walls and the only source of light was a fire that had a smoking pot suspended above it. Pamela looked around and rolled her eyes, "I know you're here. Show yourself." She growled.

There was another ripple on the opposite side of the fire, a man dark skinned man with many piercings on his face, it was the shaman!

"You're becoming a frequent visitor," He said.

"And you're becoming a frequent annoyance, give me the information I want," she spat and pulled out a vial out of her jacket pocket, "Or you're finished,"

The shaman stirred the pot calmly, "Do you really expect me to fall for water with food colouring? That is no vanquishing potion,"

Pamela scowled and smashed the vial onto the ground, "I can still hurt you severely, without a spell or a potion,"

"Good. Now if you're done with your hollow threat, I have a job I need done,"

She sighed, "This doesn't feel right anymore, and it'll only be a matter of time before my aunts catch on,"

"If it wasn't for me, you never would have had the premonition that led you to your family," The shaman answered lowly.

"What? You think giving me one premonition after three years of mercenary work is going to land you in my "Eternally Grateful" book? I don't think so. After this job, I'm done, I'll find Dean without you if you don't tell me, why I put up with your demands for so long I'll never know," The teen sneered at the old man.

"You wouldn't even know he was alive if I hadn't taken you under my wing, not to mention I taught you how to control your powers and found you a good family, is that assumption correct?"

"Of course it's true, I wouldn't have kept their last name and be trying to find him if they hadn't been good to me," Pamela sighed and put her hands on her hips, "So what am I doing? Vanquishing the competition, scaring some ungrateful mortal, or just a good old fashioned shake down?"

"Shake down. I did a favour for some Scavenger Demons and they have been less than thankful,"

"Scavenger Demons…" Pamela's eyes flashed with anger.

"I understand you have a personal history with them, I'm sure you mind taking them out,"

She rolled her eyes, "Fine, but I want the information or I'm done,"

"If all goes well, this job may well lead you to what you seek," he threw a sphere of light into her chest, "There's all the information you need,"

Pamela nodded and walked out the same way she came after saying, "Will this really guide me to him," her voice was cracked and in a whisper.

"Yes, you will find him," she nodded and walked through the portal and didn't hear him finish his sentence, "As long as your aunt doesn't intervene,"

* * *

"Ugh… Remind me why we're up at five in the morning," Emma leaned her head against the brick wall.

"Because I'm sick of Pamela sneaking out in the early morning, and besides, you're usually up this early since you're training for the marathon," Piper responded coldly.

"Piper, she's seventeen and got a hell of a lot of power in her, I'd be expecting to be protected by her if were attacked!" she laughed.

"Be quiet! There she is! God, what is she wearing?" Piper grimaced from her hiding place and commented on her niece's black clothes. Pamela looked around, as if she knew why she was here, she could hear something coming from the back of the warehouse and began to cautiously follow the noise, not knowing that her aunt was on her tail. Pamela stopped dead in her tracks when she saw what was around the corner; a demon with dark blue skin and tribal marking was strangling a man. There was a gun on the floor and judging by the way the man was dressed, he looked like a mugger. Just like Pamela, the demon was dressed in a black t-shirt and black pants.

"Dean!" Pamela shouted, the demon turned round and dropped his victim, who picked up his gun and ran off, "Dean, please! Stop running from me!"

The demon growled at her, but then its eyes flashed is clear blue instead of the intimidating yellow they had been before. Suddenly, the demon began to morph into a young man, his blue skin becoming a pale peach colour, his clothes changed to those that a teenager would wear, baggy jeans and a plain white t shirt.

"Pam…? Is that… you?" the teen squinted his eyes.

Pamela's eyes began to well up, "Finally…" she began to walk towards him, but before she could finish the first step, Scavenger Demons shimmered in from all angles.

"No… No!" she screamed, blowing up two of them while blasting a ferocious amount of ice from her mouth, encasing most of the other demons in thick blocks of ice leaving only Dean to marvel at Pamela's powers.

"Wow… You're so strong!" The younger teen grinned.

Pamela smiled and walked towards him even more, but one more Scavenger Demon shimmered in and sliced Dean's shoulder with an athame. The young Halliwell growled in anger and blasted the demon into the oblivion with a simple hand gesture. Suddenly, Dean's skin flashed a navy blue colour and Pamela's eyes widened.

"No! Dean you can fight it!" she pleaded.

Piper suddenly came out of the shadows with Emma next to her, "Pam! Get out of the way!" she yelled and went to raise her hands.

"NO!" She screamed, throwing out her arm and sending a powerful telekinetic wave through the warehouse. Crates flew from their places, dumpsters were thrown in the air, and Piper and Emma were sent hard into a brick wall. Pamela turned back round to where Dean had been, but he had gone.

"Dammit…" she pulled an eyedropper out of her jacket and knelt down next to the few drops of blood and using the eyedropper to suck up the blood.

Pamela walked over to Piper and Emma, who were just getting up and groaning from the headaches they now had, the young Halliwell looked at her aunt with only rage in her eyes.

"You have no idea what you've done," she snarled, before storming out of the warehouse and leaving Piper and Emma to recover.

* * *

Paige sat under a tree in Golden Gate Park, small rays of sunlight breaking through the gaps of branches that provided shade from the morning sun. She picked at her pants with her fingernails while looking wistfully at a photograph in her hand. She smiled as she remembered when it had been taken. Aidan stood behind her with his arms around her waist, while Paige lent back on his chest and had her hands on his, it had been at Pamela's birthday when this had taken, there had only been a few people there, as Pamela hadn't wanted a big celebration, just a couple of friends and family.

"You look like you're carrying the whole world on your shoulders,"

The witchlighter looked up to see who had spoken; she smiled when she saw Phoebe with Connor in a pushchair.

"Hey," Paige replied meekly.

"Hey, is there room under that tree for three?" Phoebe asked with a smile as she lifted her son out of the pushchair.

"Sure," she patted the ground next to her, "Take a seat, hi baby!" she said in a baby voice as she took her nephew on her sister, Connor giggled at the voice.

Phoebe picked up the picture that her little sister had discarded when she picked up Connor. She smiled when she sensed the sentimental feelings that resonated from the photo, hen quickly noted this slight power advancement of sensing past emotions before striking up a conversation.

"So, what is bothering you besides "He who shall not be named"?" Phoebe asked, Paige gave her a look, "Hey! This is me being a sister, not a psionic," she made a gesture with her hand, "Witch's honour,"

Paige bit her lip and looked at the smiling infant in her arms, "The fact that I'll have one of these in around eight months time,"

Phoebe's eyes widened, "What…?"

The youngest Charmed One's eyes began to fill up, "Phoebe, what am I going to do?"

She didn't know how to respond, "Um… I take it… you know who the father is?" Paige didn't answer, "Oh my God… Paige, please tell me you didn't,"

She shook her head, "Please don't look at me like that! I was evil at the time and I…" She sighed, "It's either Aidan's or a dead darklighter's,"

Phoebe sighed and cradled her little sister's head, "Shh… It's okay, we'll figure all this out, okay? You're not alone,"

Both of their phones began to ring at the same time, Phoebe reached to the tray at the bottom of the pushchair and pulled out her cell while Paige manoeuvred her nephew so she could reach into her pocket.

"Hello? Hey Piper, what? Slow down honey, I'll be there as fast as I can, I'll call Brennan," Phoebe said into her cell before shutting it closed.

"Hey Emma. No, I'm fine! Pamela did what…? I'll be right there," he shut her cell, "You get a distress call too?"

"Yeah," she began to dial, "You better orb us to the Manor,"

Paige sighed as she put Connor in the pushchair, "Alright, and please don't tell anyone about what we were talking about, I'm even sure I'm ready for it yet,"

Phoebe looked up; "Okay…" her little sister smiled and took hold of her shoulder and the pushchair, orbing them all out while Phoebe dialled Brennan's number.

* * *

"Pamela Walker! Get your ASS down here!" Piper yelled from the bottom of the stairs while nursing the bump on her head with her hand. Leo walked into the foyer from the kitchen and gave his wife a strange look.

"What happened?" he put his hand over the bump and healed it as Emma came through the door with a limp in her step,

"Oh nothing, Pamela just attacked us, that's all!" she replied sarcastically. Paige and Phoebe orbed in with Connor.

"Okay, what's going on? You were babbling on the phone," Phoebe walked over to her sister.

"Your niece sent us flying into a brick wall with her powers!" Piper exclaimed.

"Well…" Pamela stomped down the stairs, "If you hadn't meddled then you wouldn't have gotten hurt!" she spat.

"Pam! You protected a demon from us! Now we have to find him and vanquish-,"

"No! You'll stay away from him! This all would have been over if you hadn't went trigger happy this morning!" she stormed into the sunroom.

"Why should we stay away? Pam, if you hadn't showed up he would have killed the guy he had in his grasp!" Emma tried to reason with her.

"He's only violent when he feels threatened or provoked," she replied calmly as she looked out of the window.

"He's still a demon!" Piper shouted.

Pamela spun round, "He's not a demon!… He's my little brother," she breezed past them and walked back up the stairs. The Charmed Ones followed her along with Emma as she walked towards the attic.

"Pam, what are you talking about?" Emma folded her arms and lent on the table.

Pamela put her hands on the cover of the Book of Shadows, "His name is Dean Walker, well, that's not his real name, but when me and him were adopted by the Walkers, we took their name as well," She looked up, "Dean was the only kid I knew that had powers, he was about four years younger than me so I felt like a sort of big sister figure to him. Anyway, he used to be bullied in the orphanage for being different, I was too until I sent one of the kids flying with my powers, they didn't come after me after that," she smiled, "We were inseparable, if any of the kids gave him trouble, I would protect him. We refused to be separated people came looking to adopt a kid. And when the Walkers adopted us, we lived happily for five years, until…"

"Until?" Paige urged her; Piper slapped her on the arm.

"Until one night, someone came into the house and freed Dean's demonic half. He went berserk and… and killed my foster parents, after calling the police I went out to look for him and my search lasted a year. I was about to give up when a shaman came to me," Phoebe raised her head the mention of a shaman, "He said he would help me find my brother if I did some work for him. He found me a place to stay, it was a home specialised for older runaways and every week I would meet him to work for him, stuff like vanquishing demons and thing like that. When I turned sixteen I moved out of the home and managed to get a small place to live… and the rest you guys already know,"

Piper pursed her lips, "Pam… I am so-,"

"It's alright, you didn't know…" She pulled out the blood filled eyedropper; "I just hope he's turned back, because we won't be able to use to scry for him if he's in his demonic form,"

"Hey," Brennan walked into the attic, "Leo's taken Connor to Magic School, is everything okay?" he asked his wife.

"Uh…" she looked at her niece, "I'll catch you up," she led out onto the attic stair landing.

"Okay people, let's go. We have a child to save," Piper clapped her hands and put her arm around her niece's shoulders, "Why did you never come to us?"

"Because it's my fight, and after I destroy his demonic self, I'm going to find the monster that freed it in the first place,"

* * *

Brennan had listened intently to Phoebe as she explained what had happened to Pamela. Memories of what had happened to Lexa's brother flooded back to him, and even though Lexa had told him that he wasn't to blame, he still felt responsible for what had happened to Leo.

"Okay, you guys work on the research stuff and I'll go with Pamela to find her brother," he went to walk into the attic, but Phoebe stopped him.

"I don't think so, you're going to stay here. My powers will be more useful if Dean loses it, instead of you blasting tesla coils all over the place,"

"No, I wanna help,"

"Honey, I know you do, but this isn't about your guilt over Leo, this is about a boy who needs our help, please just do what you can to help here…" she leaned her forehead on his chest.

He sighed, "Alright, but be careful, okay?"

She smiled at him, "I always am,"

They walked back into the attic just as the crystal dropped onto the map, Pamela's hand was shaking, "I… found him," she breathed.

"Okay, take that map and crystal with you, I'll drive. Piper, where are your keys?" Phoebe looked at her big sister.

"Uh… They're on the table in the foyer,"

Phoebe nodded and walked quickly out of the attic with her niece following briskly behind her

* * *

The crystal dropped on the map again, Pamela looked at her aunt who had just brought the car to a halt, "Okay, he's still here," she put the scrying tools in the glove compartment and out of the car, slamming the door.

"I can sense him," Phoebe frowned, " He's around, but he's not alone…"

"Scavenger Demons…" Pamela clenched her fist and growled through her teeth, "Dammit! Where is he?"

"Follow me," she began to down the dusty road before stopping, "Oh my God… This is the wild west town,"

"What?"

"Oh, it was before your time. I was connected to some psychic red Indian, it's a long story,"

They resumed walking again, Pamela following Phoebe and urging her to go faster now and again. After searching for Dean for around fifteen minutes, the middle Charmed One dared to ask her niece for more information about her past.

"So… Can I ask why Scavenger Demons are after your… stepbrother?"

Pamela snorted, "He's a demon with a soul, which are rare enough on its own, but when you add the fact that he's a teenager to the mix…" she sighed, "Things get a lot more complicated. Arrogant demons think they can mould them into their heir; others just want to use him to infiltrate the human world… I'll be damned if I let anyone use him that,"

Phoebe sighed, "Pamela, you're seventeen! You should be treating adults like crap and talking about boys with your friends, you shouldn't have the burden of preserving a life on your shoulders,"

Pamela turned to her, "None of you know anything about what I've been through in my life, just because I've shared a fragment with you doesn't mean you know me. I've done things that no one should do in their life, let alone their childhood!"

She stormed off in the direction that Phoebe has been walking, leaving her aunt to wonder just how dark a past she had.

* * *

"Piper…" Emma called to the Halliwell without looking up from the Book of Shadows. Piper looked up from the potion pot on the table and walked over to her friend; she had been making the potion that would vanquish Dean's demonic half.

"What is it?"

"Um… Okay, I did some research on shamans since Pamela mentioned them, and… look at their powers, I think we've found out who released Dean's demon within,"

Piper looked down the page and frowned, "To release a hidden nature…? Oh God…" she buried her head in her hands.

"We have another problem, do we tell Pam, or do we not?"

The molecular shook her head immediately, "No, this search has consumed most of her life, revenge would destroy her at this point,"

Paige orbed in with Brennan, both of them were carrying books but the witchlighter suddenly doubled over and dropped the books,

"Excuse me…" she put her hand over her mouth and ran out of the room.

"What's wrong with her?" Brennan asked with a frown.

"I wish I knew," has Piper's response.

* * *

Pamela and Phoebe walked into the saloon, this was where the trail ended, Dean was here somewhere. Pamela leaned over the bar to see if he was hiding there, she knew that he would be nursing the wound that the Scavenger Demon had given that morning.

"Are you sure he's here?" Pamela asked for a third time.

"Yes, but he's not alone, and neither are we," she looked around the building robotically.

"Good, because I'm finishing this once and for all…" she ran up the stairs, taking two at a time and burst through the first door. Dean was slumped in a corner with a dry piece of paper pressed against his shoulder, he was either unconscious or asleep, but Pamela rushed over to him nonetheless, "Hey, buddy, wake up…" she shook him gently, Dean's eyes opened with great effort, but then they widened,

"Pam look out!" he shouted, Pamela turned around just in time to see a Scavenger Demon shoot a string of slime at her and have coil around her neck. Phoebe rushed in and fired a psionic blast at the attacker, distracting it and giving Pamela the chance to send it flying through the flimsy wooden wall with her telekinesis. The demon got up immediately; Phoebe fired another blast of mental energy and demon suddenly stopped in his tracks.

"You wanna do the honours?" she asked her niece.

"You're damn right I do," she breathed out a cloud of freezing ice, making the demon an ice sculpture, she then spun and kicked the frozen being, who turned into a pile of bloody ice.

"Pam…" Dean had got up from the corner and was now crying, Pamela's eyes welled up and she ran at the boy, enveloping him in a hug.

"Thank God you're okay! I've finally found you! Your safe now, it's alright now,"

Phoebe stood at the doorway smiling; she had just witnessed the joy of two siblings being reunited.

* * *

Pamela stood in the kitchen with Dean while holding a glass of green liquid; she stared at the potion and took a deep breath as she turned to her stepbrother.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Pamela asked him, "If I strip your powers, you can't get them back,"

"So? That means I can finally have a normal life without having other demons chasing me! Pam, I've been on the run as long as you've been chasing me, do you really want to go through that again?"

She smirked, "What is it about us Walkers that gives us wisdom beyond our age?"

He smiled at her, "That's easy, life throws us in at the deep end and our minds are forced to mature faster than our bodies,"

Pamela rolled her eyes, "You always have to have an answer for everything, don't you?"

"Always," the thirteen year old boy said with a glint in his eyes, "Now give me the damn potion, woman!" Pamela complied and gave him the glass, he drank it thirstily and finished all of it, "Did it work?"

"I dunno, try to create an energy ball,"

Dean held out his hand and wiggled his fingers slightly, he grinned when nothing happened.

"Looks like I'm cured!"

"Yeah, too bad there's no cure for that thing!" she tapped his head and sighed before hugging him again.

"If you ever get into trouble, or you just need to talk to me, you know where to find me," she whispered.

"I know…" he murmured back.

Paige came into the kitchen carrying a suitcase, she had pulled her contacts at Social Services and managed to find Dean I good home that was in the city so Pamela could visit him and vice versa.

"You ready to go?" she asked.

He nodded as he pulled back from Pamela, who ruffled his hair, "Don't start fights like you did when we were little, okay?"

He laughed as he walked out of the kitchen behind Paige, "Don't worry, I won't, I don't have any powers to defend myself with!"

She heard the front door close and she wiped the lone tear that fell down her cheek. Phoebe came into the room and put her hands in her back pockets.

"You okay?"

Pamela looked up, "Ask me later…" she smiled weakly, "Look, Aunt Phoebe, about what I said when we were looking for Dean-,"

Phoebe put her hand up, "It's okay, you don't need to apologise, just try to share with us a bit more, okay?"

"Okay," she agreed before hugging her aunt.

* * *

The shaman sat at his fire, yet again stirring at his cauldron. He suddenly smiled and took and wooden stick he was using out of the bowl and looked into the shadows, where the entrance to his cave lay.

"Why are you here?" he asked.

Phoebe emerged from the darkness; her hair covering her right eye ominously as she stared at the old man whose face was illuminated by the fire.

"Don't you know?"

"Your mental defences are strong, even for a witch of your calibur they are usual,"

"That's exactly why I'm here, my powers are advancing every day, I don't how much longer I'll be able to hold on if they keep going at this rate,"

"And you've come to me for assistance? Don't you bare some resentment for my attempt to kill you?"

"That's a thing of the past. Are you going to help control my abilities or not?"

He stared at the cauldron for a few seconds, "Performing a job like this will require a cost, you do realise?"

Phoebe cocked her head slightly, "Or course,"

* * *

**Uh oh! What's Phoebe getting herself into? And what will Paige do about her uncertainty?**

**NEXT TIME**: Tensions run high in the Mulwray household as Brennan and Phoebe both summon their grandparents behind each others backs for Connor's Wiccaning. Phoebe fights with her baby sister about a life changing decision of Paige's and Pamela decides to tell someone about her knowledge of her aunt's pregnancy.

Chapter 4 **"Wiccanings & Bickerings"** will be up soon!


	4. Wiccanings and Bickerings

Aniaka – Yeah, Piper always represses feelings. And the shaman will be back! Just you wait! I hope you like this chapter! I loved writing it! 

Princess Pinky – Brennan will find his way eventually, and I can't believe you didn't think of it! (Goes to get copyright) And Pam probably has the darkest past out of all of them! But you'll find out all about it if you this story! And this chapter's more of a heartstring puller than comical.

Prince Halliwell – Most of your questions will be answered in this chapter, except from the shaman one, I'm going to keep you guessing! Enjoy!

Phoebe turner – Paige is my favourite character, I'm not going to have her all alone! Don't worry!

Ravenix – Dean might come back, I haven't decided yet, and you'll about the shaman! I hope you continue to enjoy my story!

Piperfairy – Yeah, the family's real secretive! And most of your questions will be answered in this chapter, except from Phoebe's power and Pam's past… that not really most actually. Enjoy!

**Wiccanings And Bickerings**

Phoebe lit the last candle on her living room floor, making a complete circle of five burning wicks. Paige gave her a disapproving as she joined her at her side.

"Going behind your husbands back and summoning Grams… What kind of wife are you?" Paige mocked.

Phoebe made a breathing noise, "Look, we haven't been able to agree to whose family would bless Connor, so I'm taking the initiative and helping to make the decision,"

"So in other words, you're getting your way?" she smirked when Phoebe pursed her lips.

"Hear these words, hear my cry,

Spirit from the other side,

Come to me, I summon thee,

Cross now, the great divide,"

Stardust began to swirl in the centre of the candles, Paige and Phoebe smiled as they what was coming, There was a bright flash and in the place of the swirling lights stood Penny Halliwell, however, her back was to the girls.

"Prue, I told you before, I…" She stopped when she didn't realise her surroundings and turned round in confusion, "Oh, girls. Sorry, but I'm kind of in the middle of something,"

"Something important enough not meet your great grandson?" Phoebe smiled as she gestured to the wriggling form in the nearby bassinet.

"Oh, oh!" it finally registered in her, "Well why didn't you say so?" she walked out of the circle of candles and became a corporeal being.

"Hi," the middle sister greeted her grandmother with a hug, as did Paige.

"Hello, my darling," Grams said as she hugged her youngest granddaughter before pulling away and smiling at the bassinet, "Can I hold him?"

"Of course! He's your family," Phoebe laughed.

Grams went to pick up Connor, but stopped when she saw a symbol beside the triquetra on the baby blanket, it was an elaborate design depicting the many of the natural elements. Penny picked up the blanket and waved it in her granddaughters face.

"Would you mind telling me why the Mulwray line symbol is on this blanket?" she said with a frown.

"Um… Yeah!" Phoebe scratched at her neck nervously, "Well, it might have something to with the fact that he's… The Child Of Storms,"

Penny's eyes widened, " You mean you bred with a Mulwray to produce the most powerful witch of their line?"

"Bred? What am I? A dog?" Paige snorted at her sisters retort, "Look, Grams, he's a Halliwell! He's got my eyes, look at him, he's not a monster, he's my child!" Phoebe exclaimed.

Grams sighed, "What's his name," she said coldly.

"Connor, his name is Connor, named after my husband's mortal father! Someone who had nothing to do with magic!"

"Had? You mean he's dead?"

"Yes… And I'd appreciate you not talking about it when Brennan comes home,"

"Where is he?" Paige asked.

"He's finalising stuff at the hospital, you know, shifts and things like that," She replied. Grams eyed Connor suspiciously, but one smile from the infant was enough to make her heart melt. She smiled and picked up her new great grandson, blanket and all, "Why don't you put him down for a nap?" Phoebe looked at her watch, "It's around that time,"

Penny rolled her eyes, "Oh, very well. I take it he has his own room?"

"Yeah, second on your left after you climb the stairs," She pointed up the staircase as her grandmother walked up to the second floor, "That could be you in eight months time, holding two… Uh, I mean a baby," Phoebe smiled at her sister.

Paige shuffled on the spot, "Um… Actually, it won't it," she murmured just loud enough for her sister to hear.

"What are you talking about?" she folded her arms.

"I'm… booked for a termination tomorrow afternoon,"

Phoebe's eyes widened, "You're kidding. You're kidding, right?"

"No," she answered a bit more strongly.

"Paige… Why?"

"Because I can barely look after myself right now, let alone a baby! Not to mention the fact that I might be bearing a powerful evil darklighter!" She sighed, "I can't handle anything right now… And the thought of raising a baby by myself? It's just… terrifying…"

"So you're going to kill your child just because you're scared? Paige, how do you think I felt when I fell pregnant? I didn't plan it, it just happened! And now my life has been enriched by my beautiful baby boy, I have a husband who I love fiercely and I'm surrounded by my family again!"

Paige was about to respond, when there was a crash upstairs, "Girls!" came Patty's scream.

Phoebe sighed in annoyance and pointed at Paige, "We're not done here!" she ran up the stairs with her sister close behind.

Grams jaws getting up from her lying down position in the hallway is Phoebe ran into the room to see what was attacking. The demon was wearing a black cloak with its hood raised while a golden mask covered his face. Connor screamed as his Electrical shield stood and protected him, the demon conjured energy ball and threw it at Phoebe, who levitated into the air, spiralling out of the energy ball's path and kicking the demon right in the face.

She blew a piece of hair out of her face as she landed, "Bastard…" she spat as the demon hit the floor. Paige ran into the room with Grams just in time to see the attacker glow and disappear.

Phoebe picked up her wailing son and began to calm him down as Grams sat down in the rocking chair, scowling at a bump on her head.

"Looks like I got here just in time…"

* * *

"So what did you tell Phoebe you were doing?" Leo asked as Brennan lit the final candle in the Great Hall.

"I told her I was finalising stuff at the hospital, which I was… yesterday," he grinned.

Leo shook his head, "Going up against a Halliwell… Pure suicide," he folded his arms and continued to shake his head.

"Well, the way I see it, Connor fulfils a prophecy of my family, so it makes sense that he's blessed by my family. Phoebe knows I'm right, she's just to proud to admit it,"

The elder sighed, "You're both as stubborn as each other, that's probably how your marriage works so well! It's the same with Piper and me, we both refuse to budge on anything, and then we just meet each other half way. Maybe you should do that with Phoebe?" Brennan responded by starting the spell.

"Hear these words, hear my cry,

Spirit from the other side,

Come to me, I summon thee,

Cross now, the great divide,"

Swirling lights appeared and spun around at an amazing speed, after a blinding flash a man stood in their place. He had jet-black hair with a few grey hairs and he was dressed in beige pants with a patterned jumper.

"Brennan? Is that you?" the man asked, squinting his eyes.

The elemental laughed, "Yeah Gramps, it's me,"

"Well, it's about time you got off your lazy ass and summoned me!" he laughed.

"He's a little eccentric," Brennan murmured.

"I get that…" Leo whispered back.

The old man stepped out of the candles with a spring in his step, walking over and using a special handshake to greet Brennan.

"Heh… I see you still remember how to do it," he said.

Brennan laughed and put an arm around his Gramps and turned him towards Leo, "Leo, this is Jack Stewart, Gramps, this Leo Wyatt," the two of them shook hands, "He's my brother in law," The elemental finished.

"Nice to meet you. So, what brings me down here?"

* * *

Pamela sat in the kitchen eating cereal with her five year old cousin, she was always got up late at weekends and vacations, the only reason Wyatt was eating with her was because he had wanted a snack and cereal was the only thing in the Manor. Piper had gone to the store and Emma was out running, which she did every morning these days as she trained for the Marathon.

"So, you looking forward to the next year of school?" Pamela took another bite.

"Uh huh, it means I'm bigger now!" He said proudly. "Where's Uncle Aidan?"

Pamela stopped raising the spoon to her mouth halfway and but her lip nervously, "Um…" She rubbed her neck, "Well, certain grown up stuff means that Uncle Aidan can't be with Auntie Paige anymore,"

"Why?" Wyatt asked with wide eyes.

She ruffled his hair, "I'll tell you when you're older,"

Emma jogged through the back door drenched in sweat, she was taking deep breaths and she opened the refrigerator and pulled out a bottle of water.

Wyatt let out a laugh, "You're all wet!"

"Yeah, go take a shower, sweaty," Pamela said as she took another bite of cereal.

Emma shot her glare, "Watch it you, or you'll be getting an F next year in Potions," she walked out of the kitchen and went up the stairs.

"Emma, wait! I need to talk to talk to you!" Pamela slid off her stool and ran after the psionic.

She caught her at the bottom of the stairs where Emma was sipping on a bottle of water, "What is it?"

"Follow me," Pamela walked past her and climbed the stairs towards the next floor with Emma behind her. Turning towards her room, Pamela walked in and went over to her chest of drawers, where she opened the top drawer and brought something out. She handed the object to Emma; it was a positive pregnancy test.

"Oh my God… Are you pregnant? Is it Zach's?" Emma's eyes widened.

Pamela snorted, "Okay, no and definitely no. I found in Paige's jeans when I was putting them in the wash,"

Emma's jaw dropped, "This is Paige's?" The teen nodded, "Oh my God…" She sat down on Pamela's bed, "How did this happen?"

The Halliwell rolled her eyes, "Am I going to have a talk with you?"

Emma shot her look, "You know what I mean! Who's is it?"

"I think Paige is the only one who can give us the answer to that,"

"Give you the answer to what?" Pamela and Emma spun round to see Paige walking into the room, "Well? What do you need?"

"Uh…" The two witches looked between each other, "Um… Emma was… wanting to… borrow your leather jacket! Yeah, that's the answer we're looking for," Pamela turned back to the psionic and widened her eyes; Emma caught on and subtly hid the pregnancy test behind her back.

"Oh… Yeah, sure, I'll give it to you after we sort out some demon stuff. Is the book upstairs?" She pointed upwards.

"No, it's in the kitchen. I was testing a new batch of potions and I had to check some stuff," Emma jumped in.

"Okay, I'll meet you guys downstairs," She walked out of Pamela's bedroom; the two of them breathed a sigh of relief when they heard her footsteps on the stairs. Pamela put her hand on her forehead.

"What are we gonna do?"

Emma looked out of the door, "We're going to confront her," she stomped out of the bedroom with a stern look on her face.

Paige was pouring over the Book of Shadows in the kitchen, looking at a demon called Belgan, who killed young children to gather more power, he fitted the bill for the demon that had attacked this morning. Wyatt slid down from his stool slowly and walked over to the sink to put his cereal bowl in the sink, but when he saw it was too high for him, he blinked and the bowled orbed into the sink, leaving Wyatt to go upstairs and play.

Emma passed Wyatt on the way into the kitchen; she had kept up her fierce demeanour and stomped into the room with her arms folded. Paige looked at her best friend suspiciously, knowing that this behaviour was out of character.

"Um… What's wrong?"

"I don't know, you tell me," She slammed the pregnancy test down in front of the witchlighter and watched the colour drain from Paige's face.

"Wh-Where did you this?" she picked it up with a shaky hand.

"Pam found it when she was-,"

"Pam knows too? Well that's just great!" she sighed and put her hands on her hips.

"Why didn't you tell me? I'm your best friend!" Emma exclaimed.

"Because after tomorrow I won't be pregnant!" she shouted back.

"You're getting an abortion?" Pamela walked in with wide eyes.

"Dammit! This doesn't concern you guys! I'm not having a child, so no one else has to know about this!"

"I'm home!" Piper's voice echoed from the foyer.

"Ugh… I'm outta here," Paige stood up straight and disappeared in a swirl of white lights.

"Paige don't you dare… run away…" Emma finished her sentence weakly as she realised she was talking to an empty space.

"Hey, I thought I asked the two of you to clean the attic? I went up there and it's still a tip!" Piper scolded them both, "C'mon! This is Connor's Wiccaning!"

Emma and Pamela shared a glance, "Um… Piper, we'll do it when we get back from Paige's, we need to talk to her,"

"About what?" the oldest Charmed One raised an eyebrow.

"Um… Emma wants her leather jacket," Pamela saved their hides for the second time today.

"Alright, I guess, just don't be late!"

"We won't," The two witches said in unison.

"Uh… Em?" Piper called the psionic back.

"Yeah?"

"You might want to take a shower first,"

Emma looked down the realised she was still covered in sweat from her run, not to mention her running clothes stank. She smiled sheepishly and ran upstairs towards the bathroom.

* * *

"If you think I'm letting my grandson be blessed by your family, then you've got another thing coming, you battleaxe!"

"Oh please, the only thing my grandson would get would be a life tormented by evil if he was blessed by you!"

The two grandparents had been going at it like this for around half an hour. Brennan and Phoebe had sat awkwardly in the Great Hall while this unfolded, watching both of their families representatives go at it with each another. Phoebe jiggled a sleeping Connor delicately in her arms, trying to keep him asleep through all the shouting.

"But he's fulfils the prophecy of my family! He's ours by legend!" Jack shouted at Penny.

"The hell he is! Was it that prophecy that gave birth to him? No! He popped out of my granddaughter! That makes him ours!"

"Actually, that makes him mine and Brennan's," The two turned round and saw that Phoebe has spoken, "He's doesn't belong to our families, he mine and Brennan's, Connor is my son and I love him more than anything in the world! So stop treating him like a prize,"

"But Phoebe, I…" Grams began.

"Alright, I've had enough of this," Brennan stood up with a scowl, "The two of you resolve your differences and come to an agreement, or you're on the next train back to the afterlife and your great grandson goes unblessed! You hear me?"

The two spirits gasped, "How dare you talk to us like that! " Grams exclaimed.

"Yeah, respect your elders!" Jack added, before turning back to Penny and restarting the fighting. Brennan growled in frustration and flopped back into his chair while Phoebe stood up slowly, careful not to wake the sleeping bundle in her arms,

"I'm taking him to the nursery. He doesn't need to wake up and hear his great grandparents fighting about him," Brennan nodded weakly and went back to watching the fight between spiritual oldies.

* * *

Phoebe put a now awake Connor in the playpen and looked down on him lovingly before turning to the teacher, Mrs Winterbourne, "Is it okay if I leave here?" she glanced at her son again.

"Sure, he's a delight to look after," she smiled at the Halliwell.

"Thanks," Phoebe went to leave when Paige suddenly orbed in in front of her, which startled her, "What's wrong?" She asked, noticing the tear marks on her sister's cheeks.

"Um… Can we go to my place and talk?" She whispered.

"Uh… Sure," Phoebe took her sisters hand and they orbed out together.

They reappeared in Paige's living room, Phoebe looked around and noticed that there was a lot of boxes scattered around the apartment, she looked around the place with pity as she realised that all of the things in the boxes belonged to Aidan.

"It's about time you got here…" The two witches jumped when they noticed Emma and Pamela sitting on the sofas.

Paige sighed in annoyance, "Glad to see you just let yourself in…" she growled, "If you're to talk me out of the termination, then you're wasting you time," She walked into the kitchen and got a bottle of water from the refrigerator.

"Wait, they know?" Phoebe gestured at the two people sitting on the couch.

"I slipped up with my pregnancy test," she opened the bottle.

"Well I'm sorry Paige, but you know how I feel about you getting this procedure!" Phoebe made your opinion known.

"Add me to that…" Pamela added, the two who had agreed looked at Emma for the same answer.

"I've thought about this, and… I'm going to support you whatever you decide," Emma finally responded.

"What?" Phoebe and Pamela shouted together.

"You guys," she got up and walked towards the youngest Charmed One, "At the end of the day, this is Paige's decision and we shouldn't try and influence it. She'll do what she thinks is right,"

"Does that mean you'll come to the clinic with me tomorrow?" Paige asked her best friend with pleading eyes.

Emma pulled her into a hug, "Of course…" But their tender moment was broken by Phoebe's shouting.

"Emma, how can you go along with this? Paige is destroying the very thing that could be the best thing to ever happen to her! Don't you want her to be happy?"

"Of course I do! But we'll get nowhere by pushing her into our beliefs! This is her choice, and she's made it!"

"You can't be serious!" Pamela began, "This could be her only chance at having a child and you want her to get rid of it in a second?"

Emma was about to answer when a golden masked demon shimmered in, sending an energy ball at the psionic and hitting in the back. Emma went sailing across the room and landing in the glass coffee table, smashing it and hitting the floor. Before anyone could react, Belgan had shimmered in behind Paige, grabbed her, and shimmered out.

* * *

Leo removed the final piece of glass from Emma's bleeding back and began to heal her. Piper, Phoebe and everyone else stood watching, Grams paced the paced the room.

"Oh for Gods sakes Leo! What's taking so long?"

Leo gritted his teeth, "She almost died, it's going to take a while,"

Phoebe stood in Brennan's arms and was grateful that Connor was at Magic School with he rest of his cousins, but then she realised that there were two cousins still in trouble.

"Pamela, can I talk to you for a moment?" she whispered to that Piper wouldn't hear.

The teen gave her a strange look and walked over to the kitchen in Paige's apartment with Phoebe, "I think I figured out why the demon took Paige,"

"Yeah, I was thinking why he would take an adult when he needs young children,"

"Yeah, that's the thing, he did get a child. What's younger than a baby who hasn't even been born yet? When it's in its mothers womb,"

"The Book said that the younger the victim, the more powerful he becomes,"

"And when you add that the amazing powers Paige's baby must have…"

Pamela sighed in realization; "He'll become unstoppable," Phoebe nodded slowly, "We need to find Belgan,"

"You think?" Was Phoebe's sarcastic response. There was a gasp signalling that Emma had awakened, she sat up and blinked a few times to register her surroundings, before her eyes grew wide and she jumped up.

"Paige! What happened to her?"

"The demon took her," Brennan answered.

"What I don't get is how he got her," Piper began, "I mean, with four powerful witches in the room, how did he hit Emma and grab Paige without you guys doing anything?"

"Uh… We were a little distracted," Phoebe said, as her face grew red

"By what?"

"We were arguing with each other…" Pamela finished.

"About what?" Piper continued to question.

"Does it really matter? We need to get to Paige!" Emma managed to veer Piper away from the truth.

"The girl's right," Jack mumbled, "Belgan attacked at Brennan's Wiccaning looking for a fresh meal, so I know that it will take a lot of magic to find him, since he hides his lair,"

"What do you mean "A lot of magic"?" Pamela asked with a confused expression.

"I mean that we need a lot of power behind that scrying crystal if we're going to find him!"

Phoebe smirked slightly, "Will the combined power of a Halliwell and a Mulwray be enough?"

* * *

Leo orbed into the dark crypt with Piper, Brennan, Penny and Jack. The two grandparent dropped hands instantly as they materialised, still not budging on their believes and still not coming to decision about the Wiccaning. Following the mumbles and groanings that were coming from deeper in the cave, they heard Belgan talking to Paige.

"You will be a treat to devour," he said, Piper could tell he was smirking even though she couldn't see him, "I'll be more powerful than any demon!"

"Sorry buddy, but the feast's cancelled," Penny announced as she walked in casually before making a series of quick gestures with her fingers and causing the demon to be suspended in mid air, but the telekinetic grip wasn't strong enough, as Penny groaned from the strength that was needed. As if reading her mind, Jack and Brennan stood on either side of her and fired powerful bolts of lightning at the writhing creature; they kept the electricity going from their hands. Piper ran over to her chained to the wall sister and quickly freed her by blowing up the shackles.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, just a little woozy…" Paige turned her head to the side and vomited, Piper grimaced.

"I'll heal her cuts and bruises," Leo began, "Finish him off," Piper nodded at her husbands instructions and made a hand gesture towards the ground, to beams of orange energy shot from her palms and into the ground.

"Okay! Slam him down!" Piper yelled over the noise of shifting rock. More light burst from her hands and a giant fissure opened up in the ground, the three witches brought their arms down swiftly, causing the demon to fall with them and get swallowed by the abyss. Piper lowered her arms and the fissure disappeared with a simple command from her mind. She turned to the two spirits.

"See what happens when our families work together?"

* * *

Phoebe walked into a spotless attic with Connor on her hip, her entire family stood in a semi circle round the Book of Shadows, they were all dressed up for the occasion and Phoebe felt that this was just how she pictured it. Penny and Jack stood side by side in front of the Book of Shadows, facing the family and Brennan stood in between the two, waiting for his son and wife.

Penny smiled at her granddaughter, "Let us begin," She took hands with Jack and they chanted the spell,

"We call forth from space and time,

The Mulwray and Halliwell line,

Parents, children, siblings, friends,

Our family spirits without end,

To gather now in this sacred place,

And help us bring this child to grace."

They turned around and watched strings of light fall through the ceiling, each one taking the form of an ancestor. The attic was completely packed if you counted all of the spirits. Pamela gasped as she noticed her real mother standing at the front of the Halliwells, Prue smiled at her and mouthed "I love you" The Mulwrays were a family led by men, all of them stood proudly in their transparent states as everyone else stood in awe at the beauty of the occasion.

"The next generation has been born into our families, our legacies…" Grams addressed the spirits as Phoebe handed Connor to her; she shared holding her grandson with Jack as he continued.

"We pledge to be with this child, this handsome boy, always…" Jack said, the two grandparents alternated lines from there.

"Free, but never separate…"

"Apart but never alone…"

"He is one of us, and because of that…"

"We shall bless him with the goodness that we are,"

The two of them spoke together as they held their grandson, "Welcome to our families, Connor Halliwell Mulwray," Penny kissed his check and Jack ruffled the first waves of his dark hair. Connor was handed back to Brennan as the two grandparents took their places next to the other spirits and floated back to the heavens in a whisp of light.

* * *

Paige sat in the waiting room at the clinic, nervously rolling up the magazine she had in her hands as Emma filled out a from that the receptionist had given them when they had came in.

"Who s hall I put as "Call in emergency" person?" Emma asked nervously, knowing that it had once been Aidan.

"You're my person for that…" Paige choked out, her throat was scratchy and she hadn't talked ever since they had got into the car to drive here.

"Okay…" Emma quickly scribbled down her details.

"Emma…" Paige whispered, "Am I doing the right thing?" the psionic gave her a strange look, "It's just that… with the Wiccaning and all yesterday…"

Emma held the clipboard next to her chest, "Paige, this is your decision, I'm not going to tell you what to do when your life could be changed forever,"

"Paige Matthews," a nurse called from the room where "it" happened.

"Do you want me to come in with you?" Emma offered her best friend.

Paige sat there for a moment before shaking her head, "No, I'll go myself," She took the clipboard from Emma and walked into the back.

* * *

Pamela propped up her aunt with more pillows as she sipped on a glass of water silently. Emma stood in Paige's kitchen making a snack, just as quietly.

"How many cookies do you want?" she asked.

"Three," Paige replied as Pamela stuffed another cushion behind her back.

"Are you comfortable?"

"Yeah, thanks honey," she had a quick embrace with her niece as Emma brought a plate of cookies over. The psionic sat on the new wooden coffee table in front of Paige and gave a pitying look.

"How do you feel?" Emma asked.

"A little strange, but I guess that's to be expected…" she replied before sipping at her water again. The buzzer went and Emma shot up quickly to answer it, "You just rest, you've been through a lot today," she reassured Paige who had went to get up.

She opened the door and Phoebe stood in the hallway with an apologetic smile. "I brought a cheeseburger and fries, I know how Paige likes to eat fast food after going through something big,"

Emma smiled at her kindly and invited her in, where Phoebe took Emma's original sitting place on the coffee table and the psionic moved to sit next to Paige on the sofa.

"How are you?" Phoebe bowed her head.

"I still feel not quite right, but it's probably what's supposed to happen… Or…" Paige's voice grew louder at that word, "It could just be morning sickness," Phoebe looked up and suppressed a smile, wanting to know if it was true, but when she looked at Emma and Pamela, she knew it was for real, "I didn't get the procedure, Phoebe. I was there, I was seconds away, but in the end, I couldn't give up my babies,"

Phoebe raised an eyebrow, "Babies? As in plural?"

Paige nodded with a big grin on her face, "The doctor said there was two heartbeats when he checked me out, I'm having twins!"

After that, the apartment erupted in screams of joy and laughter as Phoebe hugged her sister tightly, knowing that there would be a new addition to the Halliwells.

* * *

**What an ending! Wouldn't you agree?**

**NEXT TIME**: Emma begins to have strange dreams of ancient times and battles of long ago, desperate to know what it means, she searches for her origins. Paige tried to find a way to tell Piper of her pregnancy.

Chapter 5 **"A Day In The Past Life"** will be up soon!


	5. A Day In The Past Life

Princess Pinky – Yeah, I'm sort of undecided on abortions, I fell that both sides of the argument make good points, but I would never kill off the twins! And yeah, aren't Jack and Penny just a bitter old couple? I can't wait for the finale of your fic! And I can't wait to see my characters in the sequel!

Unique deflection – Thank you! And I really try to make these chapters good so that people can enjoy them more!

Prince Halliwell – Lol, I know, ain't Penny a battleaxe sometimes? And my views on abortions are in the reply I gave to Pinky. I hope you like this one! This is the first Emma centric chapter I've did in ages!

Phoebe turner – I thought you'd like Paige in that one! Thanks!

Piperfairy – Yeah, I heard that a soap did that with twins, although I can't remember which one! (sob) I think I broke my updating roll lol!

Ravenix – Thanks! And no, Paige's children are going to be called Melinda and Emma! Hope you like it!

**A Day In The Past Life**

_A haze of sand swirled in the desert sky, impairing the vision of the woman that trudged through the storm. She was wearing a golden breastplate that covered the top half of her body, leaving her stomach exposed to the gritty sand that was flying through the air, a skirt of the same material slanted across her legs, making a jingling sound as she walked. A simple silver band encircled her head and strings of gold beads hung from it, but they only went around half way so she could see._

_The woman could hear the neighing of horses, the shouts of the soldiers and the thundering hooves of her chasers; she had to speed up if she wanted to escape. Finally seeing the place where she could be safe, a humongous stone creature stood proudly in the desert, the sphinx was magically sealed, if she got there, she would be safe. But fate stood in her way; she tripped in the thick sand, getting a mouthful of the grainy substance. The soldiers and their horses surrounded her, their eyes veiled under the shade of their helmets._

"_Die sorceress!" One of them shouted as he raised his spear, the others roared in approval. The sorceress stood up proudly, spitting the sand out of her mouth and moving a strand of her red hair from her eyes._

"_I would rather take my own life than lose to the likes of you!" She shouted at the leader, a searing globe of mental energy sprung from her forehead, hitting the ground and creating a ring of roaring fire around herself. She mumbled something in Egyptian before laughing manically, "We shall meet in another life, and I shall have my revenge!" were her last words as a hieroglyph burned into her forehead and the flames consumed her…_

Emma shot up in bed with a gasp, her hair plastered to her face by the sweat that covered her body. She looked around the dark room and took a deep breath, thankful that she was back in a familiar surrounding. Feeling that her throat was a little dry, she pushed the covers back with a considerable effort as her arms felt heavy, she swung her legs over the side of bed lazily, as they felt heavy too, but as Emma stood up her legs gave way and she hit the floor with a thud, unconscious. The door creaked open and Piper stood in the doorway, after hearing Emma screaming in her sleep an then a thud on the floor, she had decided to investigate, she flicked on the light.

"Emma? Are you… Oh my God! Leo! Get in here!" Piper had to turn away from the sight before her.

Emma's body was completely covered in horrible burns, the skin underneath was barely visible as her body had been damaged so much. The oldest sister was absolutely revolted and turned out towards the hallway, not being able to look at her friend…

* * *

Emma sat in the living room, her shaking hands holding onto a glad of water as she raised it to her mouth uneasily. Piper sat down on the chair opposite and pushed a lock of hair behind her ear, she sat on her hands like a nervous child.

"Was it the dream again?"

The psionic nodded slowly, "It was different this time, I could actually feel the flames burning my skin,"

Leo walked in, he was wearing a t shirt and a pair of black boxers, the two witches wore their respective pajamas, they had got up to address the current situation.

"How is she getting injuries from a person that her subconscious concocted?" Piper asked her husband.

"Well, my first thought would be that it's because she's a telempath, and that's she's somehow channeling the burns," he replied.

"Yeah but I've been having these dreams for the past week, and I've never woken up covered in burns. They're getting more real, next time I might not wake up," she took another sip of the water.

"You said they called you a sorceress? And that you're running towards a sphinx?" Emma nodded at Pier's assumption.

"What are you thinking?" Leo asked.

"What? Oh… It's nothing," Piper said, which everyone knew that, in the Halliwell family, if someone said that, they were probably onto something…

* * *

Paige wrote on the clipboard, trying to suppress her shaking hand as she was raging inside. She was sitting in the family room in the San Francisco Memorial, Brennan had called her from work as he had suspicions that one of is patients, a little boy, was being abused by his parents.

"So how did your son get his injuries?" She asked with a neutral tone.

"Um… H-He fell down the stairs," The mother said nervously, while her husband sat shooting eye daggers at Paige. The witchlighter clenched her free hand into a fist to suppress her anger, but suddenly a shelf carrying lots of medical books toppled and hit the man right on the head! Paige ignored the couple and glared at her stomach,

"Stop it…" she growled, knowing that the growing children inside of her had caused it, Paige hoped that they were just being mischievous and not practicing for when they become the most powerful darklighters in the planet.

Brennan came into the room wearing his full doctors uniform, that being a sterile white coat and a set of blue overalls, "Miss Matthews, can I have a word?" the two of them had decided that since Paige would be around the hospital a lot, is was better they keep up a professional demeanor.

"Sure," she answered, standing up and walking out of the room with Brennan closing the door behind her, "Alright Bren, what have we got here?"

"Have a look at this… He led her over to a wall with the light where they showed x-rays, he put up the black film had in his hand and the rib cage of a little boy appeared against the fluorescent light, "This kid has three broken ribs," he indicated to the bones on the film before taking it off, "He's also got a couple of his front teeth missing, looks like we've got abusive parents,"

"Is it possible that he actually did get these injuries from falling down the stairs?"

"Yeah, but when he was getting the x-ray done, the nurse said that he had a ton of bruises centered on his chest, which you definitely don't get falling down stairs, and when you consider the sheer terror this kid's feeling," Paige looked at the parents through the window with a sigh, "What do you want to do?"

"Uh… Can I talk to the boy for a little while? If I can't get the truth out of him then I'll try the mother. It's definitely Daddy that's doing this." She looked back at the stern man, but she suddenly doubled over and put her hand over her mouth.

"You okay?" Brennan blinked a couple of times.

"Bathroom… Where!" She breathed out.

"Down the hall to your left," He pointed down the corridor, Paige ran down the direction he had indicated, leaving Brennan with suspicions of his own…

* * *

Emma walked into the library at Magic School, the large bookcases towering above her as she entered. Noticing Miss Donovan shelving behind the desk, she went over to the librarian and asked for her information.

"Oh, hey Emma," she said warmly, they had had many a chat in the staff room.

"Hi Helen," Emma smiled, addressing her by her first name, "I was wondering if you have any books on ancient Egyptian magic,"

"Egyptian? Wow, what do you need that for?"

"Oh… Just research," she smiled sweetly.

Miss Donovan nodded in approval, "Okay, as long as that's all it's for, Egyptian sorcery is pretty dangerous magic," she came out from behind the desk and beckoned Emma to follow her down the isle. Helen led her towards a bookcase filled with old, tearing books. "This is everything we have…"

"Okay, thanks," she beamed sweetly as Miss Donovan went back down the isle, Emma was glad that is was summer vacation, as this place was usually packed with students studying for all kinds of things. Turning back to the bookcase, she noticed one book that was different from them all, it had a golden shimmer to it and seemed in perfect condition. Taking the book down from the shelf, she slowly opened the cover and looked at the first page, it was cover in hieroglyphs, but the strange thing as, she understood it!

"To call upon the Great Atharia… Let her magic soar through time and space… And…" She squinted at the page, trying to make out the next line, "Take her with my power and bring her to this… place?" Emma gasped as she realized what she had done, she could only watch helplessly as a brilliant light shot from the page, making Emma drop the book and blinding her. Emma brought her arm down from her face as the light faded, she looked around and gulped when she saw the woman from her dream staring at her a couple of feet away, she looked just like Emma!

"My spell book!" The woman cried, the book disappeared in a golden glow and reformed in the redhead's hands.

"I thank you for freeing me…" she said in Egyptian, "But I'm afraid this is goodbye!" a searing red globe of heat appeared in front her head, similar to a psionic blast. The sorceress fired the heat blast at the ground, causing a wall of fire to separate Emma and herself. The flames dissipated as quickly as they had came, leaving a shocked and frightened Emma standing there completely stunned…

* * *

"Did you find something in the Book?" Phoebe asked as she entered the attic after putting Connor down for a nap in the boy's room. She walked over to her older sister who was staring at a page.

"Actually, yeah," she moved out the way to Phoebe could read the page, "Take a look at this,"

_Atharia_

_A powerful Egyptian sorceress who was highly revered in her time. Greatly skilled in the art of alchemy, many came to her to revive their dead loved ones and to take advantage of her another powers as an alchemist. She also had the ability to concentrate heat into a globe with her mind and use it to cause fires. The sorceress met a dark end when she was hunted down her reviving the Pharaoh's sworn enemy, who was her lover, she decided to take her own life than be killed by soldiers and she used her powers to burn herself to death, swearing vengeance with her last breath._

"She fits the bill for the person in Emma's dream, I just can't figure out the connection though," Piper bit her lip.

"Maybe our lovely niece would know, where is she anyway?"

"Not available, Jenna was going to Santa Costa to visit her grandmother and invited Pam along for the ride. Are you even listening to me?" Piper asked, as Phoebe was engrossed in reading about Atharia.

"Look at this part, "She also had the ability to concentrate heat into a globe with her mind and use it to cause fires," don't you think that sounds like a psionic heat blast?"

"You lost me at the word, "part"," Piper said bashfully, Phoebe rolled her eyes.

"Leo!" she called out, her brother in law appeared in a swirl of orbs, "Did you find out anything about Emma's nightmare?"

"Yeah, you're not going to like it," and grimaced and swayed in his heels, "The woman is Emma's dream is called Atharia, she was-,"

"Yeah, skip that part," Piper urged.

"She's in our time," Leo finished.

"What? How is that possible?" Phoebe's eyes widened.

"The Elders say that she only could have been summoned by someone connected to her somehow,"

"So we have a psycho heir of an Egyptian sorceress on our hands? Great…" Piper slammed her hand down on the book and turned to look out of the window.

"No, no, this is okay, the Book says that she's a force of good so I'm sure she'll understand that we need to send her back," the middle sister tried to calm Piper down.

"Actually, it doesn't. Atharia swore revenge on those that forced her to her death, she'll be out looking for the descendants of those people," Piper and Phoebe both groaned in frustration.

"Guys, we have major trouble!" Emma announced as she jogged into the room.

"Oh sure! Make our day even better!" Piper scowled.

"The woman in my dream, she flew out of a book I had, and-,"

"Wait a minute, you released Atharia?" Phoebe gaped and pointed at her.

"Who?"

"Your past life…," Piper added, "By the looks of things,"

* * *

Paige and Brennan walked into the ward where the little boy was being kept; the nurse that walked in front of them pulled back the curtain to reveal the little boy sitting up in the bed, another nurse was holding a glass of juice in front of him while he sipped out of it with a straw. Brennan signaled to the nurses and they left, he hung up the little boy's medical chart at the bottom of his bed.

Taking a seat next to the bed, Paige put her clipboard next to her and smiled warmly at the boy, she had had a lot of experience with scared children so she knew that they had to feel safe, "Hey Alex,"

"How do you my name?" the little boy asked with wide eyes, he was amazed that she knew his name without telling him telling her.

Paige nodded at Brennan, "The doctor man told me, I'm Paige by the way," she held out her hand and he shook it, children liked to be thought as grown up in certain situations, "How are you feeling?"

"My chest hurts…" the little boy said with a sad face.

Paige picked up the action figure that was lying on the bed, "Wow, is this Samurai Jack? My nephew has one just like it, but it's not nearly as cool as yours!"

"Are you a Mommy?" Alex asked innocently.

Paige looked at Brennan, who gave her strange look as he was confused by her hesitation, "Um… Yeah, I have two babies in my tummy right now," she rubbed her stomach while Brennan's eyes widened.

The little boy looked shocked, "You ate them?"

She laughed, "No! Babies stay in their Mommy's tummy before they're born!"

Alex sat and stared at her stomach, he couldn't understand how children could fit into a woman's stomach, but he shook it off and kept talking to the nice lady.

After talking to Alex for around twenty minutes, Paige decided to question him about his injuries, "Um… Alex, can I ask what happened that made your chest hurt?" he bottom lip quivered, she put her hand on his, "Honey, did Mommy or Daddy make your chest hurt?"

The young boy shook his head violently before pulling his head under the covers, leaving a frustrated Paige to think of other another way to get the truth…

* * *

A dark skinned man sat in his office scribbling his signature on a piece of paper, he sighed and pulled another document in front of him and signed it. He then sat back in his chair and loosened his tie, turning off the desk lamp and beginning to walk to the door until he noticed a woman in his office. Needless to say she was dressed rather fearlessly.

"Who are you?" he asked, slightly mesmerized by the shimmering of the gold in her clothes.

"I'm the last person you're ever going to see," A psionic heat blast flew from her mind, hitting the man and reducing him to his knees in agony, "You shall pay for the prejudice of the ones that came over you," she fired a series of heat blasts into his mind as he groaned and writhed in agony, "There's only so much heat the brain can take before it shuts down completely… I wonder how long it will take for yours to give out?" she fired another series of psionic heat globes; the man was nearing breaking point.

Emma, Phoebe, Piper and Leo stormed in, "No!" The psionic fired a mental blast of her own, hitting her past life with a warning shot and only making her head whip to the side. Atharia turned round and glared at Emma,

"Why do you obstruct my efforts? His ancestors are the type of people that are responsible for us having to hide who we are!" she looked at unconscious victim on the floor with distain.

"I know…" Emma truly sympathized with the sorceress, "But this isn't the way! Killing him with her powers isn't going to make people accept us, they're going to fear us and hate us!" Atharia looked at the dark skinned man on the floor,

"It's not too late," Leo chipped in, "You can reverse heat just as quickly as you create it, you could finally move on… And be with man that turned you on this path of revenge in the first place,"

Her eyes widened in anger, "Don't you dare talk about him…" she growled, a heat wave blasted from her head, reducing everyone in the room to their knees. Atharia walked over to her future life and mumbled something in a language she knew Emma would understand, before disappearing in a tower of sand.

"Ugh… Is everyone okay?" Emma pushed herself up to her feet.

"I think I've got a bit of a temperature but I'll be fine," Piper stood up and blinked a couple of times.

"Emma, do you think could scry for her again?" Phoebe got back onto her feet.

She shook her head, "Don't have to, she told me where she was going,"

"Okay, well, let's go vanquish her sorry ass," Piper said confidently while straightening out her back.

"No, she's good inside, it's just… She really loved the person that the Pharaoh killed; she's doing this for him. I have to help her move on, and that's means going alone. You guys stay and make sure he…" she gestured at the unconscious man, "Doesn't remember anything once you've healed him," she looked out of the window, "I'll deal with everything else…"

* * *

Paige stood looking at the parents in the family room with a heated glare, she knew that the brute of the father was hitting his wife and child, but she couldn't prove it! These sorts of cases made her blood boil. Brennan walked over to him with a medical chart with a frown on his face.

"Paige…"

"Please don't say you're letting that kid go home with them!"

"My bosses are telling me that since there's tangible proof we can't keep him here,"

Paige glared at the people on the other side of the window, and then she turned to Brennan, "You want tangible proof? I'll get tangible proof!"

She stormed off towards the bathroom, pulling out her tape recorder that she used make verbal notes. Looking around and making sure that the bathroom was empty, she went into a cubical just to be safe, setting her tape recorder to record, she orbed out of the cubical.

Making sure no one would see her; she orbed into one of the long cupboards and began to listen to their conversation.

"You could have killed him John!" the woman hissed.

"Shut up and just stick to the story, that bitch of a social worker is stalling this deliberately,"

"That's because she can probably guess that a kid doesn't get three broken rips just by falling down the stairs! Unless he fell down them repeatedly,"

"Oh yeah? Well, if you don't keep your mouth shut, you'll be taking a trip down the stairs if you know what I mean!"

Paige cursed under her breath and orbed out, knowing that she had probably saved a life today…

* * *

Emma appeared in the crypt in a tornado of white lights, she ignited a psionic blast so she would have some source of light to see through the darkness. She had transported herself into an ancient pyramid; Atharia had whispered to her the location of where she would be if Emma wanted to stop her.

"So you came…" Atharia's voice appeared in the darkness, the room suddenly illuminating with a large fire on the ground.

"How did you do it? How did you hold on for all this time?" Emma whispered.

"Revenge is something that can last a lifetime. The lust of it, and the grudge that you hold… Can easily sustain you through an eternity of being on limbo,"

"You can't do this! You can't kill these people!" Emma pleaded.

"Why not? You're a witch, are you not? Your kind were burned at the stake for decades… centuries even! How can you be so forgiving to the very same people that would condemn you for what you are?"

"Because the prejudice that you're talking about doesn't exist today! And what do you think killing these people will solve? They weren't the ones that killed your love!"

"Doing this will end it! It will mean I can finally move on!" she shouted.

"No, it won't, killing innocent people makes you no better if not the same as the people who forced you to your death. You know I'm right… It's because of your self control, it's because of your kindness and compassion throughout your life, that I am able to live happily, instead of repenting for your mistakes. Please, don't do this!"

Atharia looked at the ground with tearful eyes, "I'm scared,"

Emma smiled sympathetically, "I know… But he will be waiting for you on the other side,"

The sorceress stood proudly and smiled, "Thank you… I'm glad to see my mind is still strong through the ravishing of time and space. I want you to be wary of the witches you have befriended,"

"Why?" Emma frowned.

"Their souls… They are among the oldest I have sensed, they are not new to this world… be careful," She whispered, a bright flash surrounding her as she moved onto the afterlife…

* * *

**I hope you liked it! My computer's been acting up for the last couple of days so it took a little longer. I know that the characters all seem to be doing separate things, but it's taking me a while get used to having them all together.**

**NEXT TIME:** It's men galore in San Francisco when each of the sisters bump into their previous boyfriends, each of them were pretty serious with each other! Emma does more research into her past life, and Brennan and Pamela accidently release a powerful evil while on an uncle-niece demon vanquishing session.

Chapter 6 **"The Ex Factor"** will be up soon!


	6. The Ex Factor

Princess Pinky – She's been a social worker all this time lol! And I have all of the kids powers decided, and telekinesis doesn't show up again, well, maybe not in its pure form! And you'll see about their souls as the story progresses! I can't wait for "Every Halliwell Counts" have you got an ETA on it?

s.halliwell24 – It usually take me around 4 days to write a chapter, but I don't go back to school for another week so I've had a lot of free time, the frequent updates will probably slow down after that.

Ravenix – Thanks! And Atharia will return! Emma will gain some more knowledge! I mean she can now understand hieroglyphs!

Andy20 – Ugh… I hate viruses! I had all the chapters from "A Power Divided" on my computer, and my computer was wiped by a virus! And I understand, it'll just make receiving a review from you all the more better!

Phoebe turner – heh… Wouldn't you like to know, it will be revealed!

Prince Halliwell – Yeah, I though it was a very Paige thing to do, and as I said above, telekinesis is not one of the kids powers. An you'll need to wait and see about the sisters souls!

Unique deflection – The souls thing will remain a mystery, and Pam's in this chapter along with Emma!

Piperfairy – Heh… Read on and find out!

**The Ex Factor**

Phoebe turned away from the computer in her office and went to look out the large window that took up the entire back wall behind her. It had turned out that the paper had moved buildings shortly before she had came back to San Francisco, so she was able to get one of the good offices instead of one of the desks in the bullpen. There was another window on the opposite side that looked into the bullpen, where assistants were running about with folders, cups of coffee and Elise was doing her rounds, shouting at people who weren't going to meet their deadline, Phoebe being one of them. She grimaced and got back to typing, glancing at her wriggling child in the playpen, the elven nanny had been busy today, and since the hospital was no place to look after a kid, Phoebe had taken Connor to work with her. She smiled; Connor hadn't taken a tantrum all day which was a relief for both Phoebe and everyone in the paper.

Elise breezed in the door, "Phoebe, that column better be on its way to the printers by now!"

"Um… Just give me a couple more minutes, I'm almost done," She pleaded.

The weary editor sighed, "You're lucky I'm in a slightly good mood," Phoebe laughed and pushed her glasses back up her as they had fallen slightly. Elise looked towards the cooing baby, "Can I hold him?"

"Sure, go ahead," The Charmed One offered. She went over and picked up the baby while Phoebe smirked, "I didn't figure you for the baby type?"

Elise chuckled, "Phoebe, I do have two sons you know, and believe it or not I was your age at some point!"

"Really?" she made while pursing her lips.

Elise narrowed her eyes after putting Connor back into the playpen, "You know, not many bosses would let you get away with that,"

"Oh, I know…" Phoebe laughed.

"Actually, while we're on the subject of bosses… Jason's coming to check up on the paper tomorrow,"

Phoebe's fingers stopped typing immediately, "How long have you known that he was coming?"

"I found out just a couple of hours ago, it's one of these surprise inspections," the Halliwell sighed, "Do you want to e-mail your column in from home tomorrow?" Phoebe clicked on print and her column began to appear in the paper tray. She stood up, swinging her purse onto her shoulder and picking up Connor,

"No… I've been away from here for too long, an ex-boyfriend shouldn't chase me away. I'll see you tomorrow," she smiled and walked out of her office…

* * *

Paige ran a tired hand through her hair as she stepped out of the coffee shop with a frothy take away cappuccino in her hand, looking up at the summer sun beating down on San Francisco. She smiled slightly as she watched everyone heading home after a hard day at work, woman were taking off their shoes and rubbing their feet at bus stops, while men fanned themselves with the evening edition of the newspaper and loosening their ties. Paige's own end of work ritual was getting a cup of coffee from Starbucks then walking home, she lived so close to the agency so she thought she might as well take advantage of the proximity.

Weaving in and out of the rushing people on the sidewalk, she tried to walk as quickly as she could while sipping from her cardboard cup at the same time. As Paige was taking a sip and not paying attention, someone who was walking in the opposite direction bumped into her harshly, making her drop her coffee, but not before most of it spilled onto her top.

"Oh my God! My am so… Paige?"

Paige frowned and looked up, ready to shout at whoever had made her drop her coffee, "You might want to watch where you're… Glenn!" she beamed when she saw that she had bumped into her old boyfriend. Paige went to hug him when he backed away; she then realized that her top was covered in coffee,

"I would, but…" He began.

"Yeah… What are you doing here?" they began to walk along the street towards Paige's apartment.

"I'm visiting the folks, how have you been? Any witchy stuff going on?"

She rolled her eyes, "When isn't there? But I will tell you something, I moved out of the Manor,"

Glenn gave her a strange look, "I'm not gonna say anything until I know how you feel about that,"

"It's a good thing!" she hit him playfully; "You wanna come to my place? I'm wearing my after work treat so I guess its instant coffee for me,"

"Alright then, I'd like to see this place of yours!" he replied enthusiastically, "So… Are you living with someone at this apartment?"

"No… But thanks for that ever so subtle enquiry into my love life… I used to be with someone,"

"What happened?"

"He left, leaving me a couple of surprises," She tapped her stomach.

Glenn's eyes widened, "He left you pregnant? How far along are you? What an asshole…"

Paige shook her head slowly, "I'm two months along. It's not his fault, he left for a good cause and I didn't tell him about the twins…" She decided to leave out the fact that the father could be an evil darklighter

"You're having twins? Well that explains why you're that big at two months!"

She looked down at her stomach, it was bigger than she remembered Piper's at this stage. It suddenly dawned on her that she would be double the size!

"Anyway, speaking of significant others, how's Jessica?" Paige asked with slight distain in her voice, which Glenn didn't pick up on.

"She stayed in Australia. I think she was sorta nervous about seeing you after what happened last time,"

"I can't really blame her…" Paige said, suppressing a smirk as she remembered orbing her down to Purgatory…

* * *

"C'mon Piper, all we'd be doing is vanquishing a couple of demons then be getting out of there," Brennan pleaded with Piper as she drained a pot of potato's.

"I'm still trying to get over the fact that you went home, scried for evil and now you're asking me to go fight it with you,"

"You get to kick some evil ass before dinner time! What could be better than that?"

"There won't be a dinner if I go to vanquish demons, and speaking of dinner shouldn't you be heading home for yours?"

"Phoebe was working late so she's picking up something for her and Connor; I've already eaten, c'mon,"

Pamela, who had been sitting at the table with a cup of coffee, stand up, "Oh for the love of God! I'll go! I'm half your age and you're even starting to bug me,"

Brennan rubbed his hands together, "Alright, let's go!"

"I think I'll drive," Pamela said in a matter of fact way, "You seem a little too wired for my liking,"

Piper smirked, "Nice try missy, but you're not taking the car,"

The young Halliwell stomped her foot, "Oh come one! I can drive anything. You many people can see that they could drive a Harley when they were fourteen? I may have been legal for a year, but I've been driving for three," she said proudly.

"I don't care," Piper replied calmly before turning to Brennan, "Make sure she doesn't take control of the steering wheel with her powers,"

Pamela glared at her aunt before walking out of the kitchen towards the front door, "Killjoy…" she muttered as walked into the dining room, grabbing her leather jacket while Brennan went out the back to bring the car around. Just as she opened the door, a man was about to knock on it, he looked slightly stunned as Pamela looked at him.

"Can I help you?" She asked.

"Um… Who are you?" the man asked.

"You knock on my door and you asked me who I am?" She smirked.

"Does Piper Halliwell live here?"

"Who's asking?" She replied defensively, she didn't what it was, but she didn't like this one bit.

The man sighed, "Dan Gordon… Does she live here?"

"No, the Halliwells moved out a couple of years ago," She said casually. Dan looked as if he was about to reply when he stopped moving, Pamela gave him a strange look until she realized he was frozen. Turning round with a grimace on her face, the teen saw her aunt standing behind with her hands outstretched.

"He looked shifty," Pam said weakly.

"Uh huh, go on, your hyper active uncle won't wait much longer," she out the door, Pamela sighed when she saw Brennan tapped his fingers off the steering wheel.

"Ugh… Okay, Leo!" She called before leaving, smirking at her now manic aunt.

"Pam!" She groaned as Leo appeared in a swirl of orbs next to her.

"What is it?" He looked at Dan "What the hell is he doing here?"

"That's what I'm about to find out, c'mon, get into the living room before he unfreezes!" She ushered her husband into the next room just as Dan unfroze.

"Wh… What happened to the obnoxious girl that here?"

"My niece? Oh, she's going out," Dan turned around and saw Pamela waving sweetly as him, Piper mouthed to her niece, "Don't you dare," Making her pout as Brennan's car took off. Just to make the situation even more awkward, Leo came out from the living room and placed his hands on Piper's shoulders defensively.

"I never should have come…" Dan shook his head and turned around, walking down the stairs. Piper sighed and went to run after him, but Leo grabbed her arm gently,

"Piper, why do you feel some responsibility for this guy?" He growled.

"I owe him that, don't I?" she shook free off his grip and run down the stairs after her ex…

* * *

Phoebe stepped out of the elevator and headed towards her office with Connor on her hip, the evening sun setting a warm glow across the entire floor, unlocking the door to her office, she started talking to her son.

"Okay, where did your silly Mommy leave her house keys, huh?" she began to rummage around on her desk until she heard a knock at her door.

"Jason…" She whispered, seeing her former boyfriend standing at the door

"Hi," the businessman said confidently, although he was shaking like a leaf inside.

"Wow, I haven't seen you in…" She tried to remember.

"So long…" He finished her sentence.

They stood their in silence until Connor broke the silence by cooing, coming between the awkwardness. Jason noticed the diamond ring on Phoebe's finger and immediately realized that she wasn't just babysitting.

"Uh… So who's this little guy?" he asked, touching Connor's tiny hand, but he pulled it back when a got a slight static shock, Phoebe stifled a laugh,

"This is Connor," She held him close, "He's around three months old,"

"Is he magical? Because I don't know of that many kids that can act as their own generators,"

Phoebe smiled, remembering how Jason had found out about her secret, "Yeah, his Dad's pretty much the same,"

He raised his eyebrows, "His Dad's a witch?"

"Yeah, it's probably the best in the long run…" She looked down at the ground.

"Honey, are you ready to go?" A tall blonde woman with a porcelain face stood in the doorway with a white fur coat.

"I… better get going," He said, "It was good to see you again,"

"Yeah… You too,"

* * *

Brennan and Pamela walked down into the cellar of the alleyway. They could hear chanting coming from the base of the stairs, which was unusual as they were in the centre of the city. The hum of chanting could be heard from the bottom of the stairwell, the two witches carefully advanced. Looking at the situation from the shadows, five demons with hooded cloaks stood in the shape of a pentagram in front of an impressive looking box, it was covered in diamonds and seemed to be made from some sort of silver, the chanting got louder and slowly, particles began to float up from the box.

"Okay, I think this is where we jump in," Pamela hissed, before jumping out and making their presence known. One of the demons turned around and the two witches grimaced when it seemed like the demon had had has skin turned inside out, as all the muscles on his face where visible.

"Keep chanting!" the demon growled to his comrades as he took on the intruders. Brennan sneered at the creature and threw a tesla coil at him, but instead of flying back into the wall, the demon braced itself and gritted his teeth as the electricity hit him. He took a swing a Pamela, who ducked and sweeped his legs while taking the athame from the demons belt as he fell. She stabbed him in the chest, but he then grabbed her collar and threw at the wall. Planning on doing the same to Brennan, he ran at the witch, but he was smarter and he used his jet propulsion power and jump over to his and niece and help her up.

"C'mon, we can beat these guys!" he said strongly.

Pamela blew her hair away from her face, "Easy for you to say, you didn't get a backful of wall!" she retorted, while sending the charging demon into the opposite wall with an aggressive wave of her arm. Brennan swirled both his hands together, electricity sparked loudly in his hands as he hit the demon with two bolts of lightning, while Pamela hit him with multiple explosive blasts from her hands. The demon finally exploded, but a blue light hung where he last stood, before at whizzed into the box in the centre. The other four beings blew up became blue lights that flew into the box also.

"Oh my God… Don't tell me we just helped them with what ever they were going to do," Pamela groaned.

"They would have sacrificed themselves anyway, I think we just stalled the process," Brennan replied.

The two of them fell to the ground when it began to shake. A bright blue beam shot from the box, flying through the ceiling and bringing down some of the plastering. Pamela was helped to her feet by Brennan and they could only watch in horror as the scene unfolded. The blue light disappeared, along with the box and was replaced by a man, his black hair made his place stand out and the long leather coat he was wearing went down to his ankles despite his height.

"Who are you?" Pamela asked stupidly.

"Your death," the demon replied, he put his hands together then outstretched his arms, a massive blue cloud of energy shot forth and sent Brennan Pamela flying, hitting against the wall and landing on the floor. Just as the demon was going to finish them off, orbs began to surround his victims, "No!" he shouted, as he watched them both disappear in their own swirls of white and blue lights.

Andy stood in the shadows, watching the demon lose his temper. He was grateful that he was able to save his daughter and Brennan in time…

* * *

Emma ran down the stairs, she heard the timer go in the kitchen and since Piper had ran after Dan and Leo had left to blow off some steam, she was left with the cooking. She was about to enter the dining room, when orbs began to form on the floor in the foyer, as they materialized, Emma gaped when she saw Pamela and Brennan's unconscious bodies.

"Wyatt! Could you come down here quickly?" Emma shouted, the fiver year old appeared in his own set of orbs, "You need to heal Pammy…" that was what he called Pamela, "And your Uncle Brennan, okay?"

"Okay," the little boy went between the two people and light burst from his palms, the gashes on the two witches' heads immediately disappeared.

Pamela sat up with a groan, "Ugh… What happened?"

"You tell me, you were the ones who appeared on the floors in orbs!" Emma exclaimed as Brennan came to.

"Man… Emma not so loud!" he blinked a couple of times.

She hit him on the chest in response, "You're not hung-over you idiot! What happened?"

* * *

"Dan! Wait!" Piper had chased him into the alleyway that stood close to P3; he still hadn't stopped walking ever since he had stormed away from the house. She finally caught up to him and grabbed his arm.

"How can you still be with him? He's a fraud, Piper! I gave you the evidence!" he shouted.

"What were you expecting? That you would come here and find me realizing Leo was a mistake and run into your arms? Well, you're wrong! I have two beautiful children with him and don't regret a day of it!"

"Oh, c'mon Piper, he was never there for you! He was always disappearing!"

"Yeah, so was I! I think your exact words were "Time stops for a minute and then she's completely different," I can't believe you came here to play the jealous ex! I though you were better than that!"

"I am!" He bellowed, "But what I don't understand is why it couldn't have been me! Is it because he knows your damn secret?"

"That's part of it, and the fact that I know that you would never accept me if you knew what it was!" Piper exclaimed, remembering how he reacted to her secret before the genie had erased his memory.

"Well how do you know? Try me!"

"You really want to know?"

"Yes! Tell me!"

"Alright! I'm a-," she was cut off by Dan suddenly flying across the alley and hitting the side of a dumpster, knocking him out. Piper looked at who had done it; she stared at a demon with dark blue eyes, jet-black hair and a long leather coat.

"Can't have him getting in the way now, can we?" he smirked as he threw a fireball at Piper, who phased and let the attack sail through her. The demon snarled and threw another one, but the oldest Halliwell suddenly vanished, reappearing behind the demon and blasting him, making him a mass of swirling particles.

"Not exactly the desired effect but it'll do, Leo!" Piper shouted into the night sky, her husband appeared in a cloud of orbs with his arms folded, but his cold attitude faded when he saw Dan unconscious and particles swirling in the air.

"What are you waiting for? Blast those particles and scatter him!" Piper exclaimed. Leo sighed and blasted the demon with two lightning bolts, causing the molecules to fly into the sky and separate for the time being. The Elder hesitated before Piper pulled him towards Dan to heal him, "Okay, we'll orb out before he comes to and figure out what the hell just attacked us," He quickly healed the unconscious man and orbed out with his wife, leaving Dan to wonder what had just happened…

* * *

Phoebe strapped Connor into the baby chair in the back seat of her Mini, the multi story parking lot was dead at this time of night, as no one wanted to be in the city at this time. She finally made sure that her son was safe in the back seat before closing the door, but a black haired man stood in her way.

"Oh my God…" Phoebe recognized him, "You're the demon from my premonition!" she exclaimed.

"Glad to see I'm well known…" He smirked, before bringing hand across her face and sending Phoebe sailing across the lot. Just before she hit the windscreen of a car, she levitated and managed to flip in the air, landing on the ground before hitting the car.

"I'm not your average witch…" She growled.

"Oh, I know," He walked towards her, "Phoebe Halliwell, middle Charmed One, Class A Psionic, mother to the Child of Storms, not to mention you're probably more powerful than the two of your sisters combined,"

Phoebe smirked, "Wow, you are good, if you can guess my shoe size you get a free t-shirt," she said sweetly. He advanced on her and she retaliated my firing a psionic blast, but he only stumbled as the mental attack entered his mind.

"Oh c'mon, you can do better than that!" He taunted.

"Of course I can…" Her eyes went black as dark waves of psychic energy blasted the demon into the air and making him land on a nearby car. Phoebe took this chance to run for her car, opening the door and slamming her foot down on the accelerator as she sped away to the Manor…

* * *

Paige was sitting in her apartment with Glenn, they had basically talked all night, she had really needed the company since she was living alone in this massive apartment, and it was actually what they were talking about.

"So why don't you get a roommate or something?" He asked.

"Because I don't need one, I struck a deal with the landlady so I can still afford the rent,"

"But aren't you lonely here by yourself?"

Paige held onto her mug tighter, "Not really, it's good to have some peace and quiet when I come home, besides I might as well enjoy it while it lasts," she patted her stomach.

"Oh, so you're the one carrying?" a voice said, Paige spun round to see the demon that had attacked Phoebe and Piper.

"Who the hell are you?" She stood up proudly. The demon didn't answer, he just waved his hand casually and Glenn went flying towards the wall, "Glenn!" Paige called for him, her friend disappearing in orbs and reappearing next to her, "Tell my sisters I need them! Manor!" she gestured at him, Glenn disappeared in a flurry of orbs.

"Looks like it's just you and me," The demon smirked.

"Looks like it…" She replied.

The demon grinned and threw out a fireball which caught Paige by surprise, all she could was look in horror as the fireball came hurtling towards her, her eyes widened when a disc of orbs extended from her stomach, shielding her and protecting her from the fireball, which rebounded off the wall of orbs and hit its master, who winced.

Piper, Phoebe and Leo orbed in just in time to see the orb shield and Paige's shocked expression, Phoebe nodded a little bit while Piper and Leo looked just as shocked as the youngest sister.

Phoebe shook her older sister, "Piper blast him!" she urged, opening the wooden box that had five magic crystals within them.

"But Paige… She…" She sighed and blew up the demon.

"Paige! The crystals!" The older Halliwells ran towards their younger sibling.

Paige nodded, "Crystals, circle!" There was a blue glow in the box and the crystals reappeared around the demon just as he reformed, trapping him. They began to the spell that they had used to vanquish the Source, not to mention many other demons after that,

"Prudence, Patricia, Penelope, Melinda,

Astrid, Helena, Laura and Grace,

Halliwell witches stand strong beside us,

Vanquish this evil from time and space!"

The demon screamed and writhed in agony before a massive explosion claimed him, making the Halliwells fall to the ground from the force. The smoke began to clear and the sisters regained their feet, Phoebe gasped in horror as she saw that the demon was survived! Their most powerful spell, and he had survived it!

He smirked and wiped his clothes down, "See you around…" he flamed out, leaving the girls completely astounded. Phoebe walked towards the now broken circle of crystals while Paige stood in shock,

"Our most powerful spell… And he survived it…" She breathed.

Phoebe put her hands over her mouth, "I don't think seen the last of him… Not by a long shot…"

* * *

**Okay, the big bad has been revealed! I've so many ideas for this story!**

**NEXT TIME:** Unbeknownst to the Charmed Ones, a power struggle between their counterparts and their mystery demon begins in the Underworld. Paige gets a dog, Phoebe and Brennan have their first argument as a married couple and Emma goes on a date with Grant.

Chapter 7 **"Ignorance Is Bliss"** will be up soon!


	7. Ignorance Is Bliss

Unique deflection – The demon's going to be the cause of concern for the characters, and maybe the kids are just using the powers that they've inherited from Paige, you never know!

Ravenix – Emma's in this chapter a bit more, but there's not much action! And as far as powers and the demon… they're all part of the mystery, but the twins names are Melinda and Emma.

Princess Pinky – Yeah, it was unlike the awkwardness Piper and Phoebe had with their exes; I hope you liked, since I know you're huge Paige/Glenn shipper! And the orbs were the baby's form of Wyatt's shield, but I think the shield is just going to be a thing of their childhoods. Ugh… Dan, I agree! And Connor's just a little devil lol! I'm glad you liked Pamela, that girl's got spunk! And makes a bigger appearance in this chapter, and you never know, you might just get your wish ;) Loved the opener to your new fic btw!

Phoebe turner – The evil sisters are in this chapter! Enjoy!

Prince Halliwell – Oh yeah, he's going to be really powerful! And Dan's buggered off, don't worry, I can't stand him either! And I know! I had completely forgot, I had uploaded the chapter and then I reread some of the chapters in your story! And I plan on making the shields a childhood thing, since I can't imagine Wyatt with a force field at 24! And as far as I have planned, Aidan's still an Elemental, so Grant has access to him…

Piperfairy – Meh… Do we care about Jason when Phoebe's with Brennan now? No! Lol and Phoebe's a psychic powerhouse!

Aniaka – Ah! She's onto me:runs: lol about your comment on Phoebe! And Emma and Pam are cool, everyone seems to like them! And there's a Piper centric chapter coming up after the next chapter! I know I've been a busy bee with too much time on my hands, that's why I've been so quick! The father of Paige's children? Not telling! Lol!

**Ignorance Is Bliss**

_The attic door burst open, Emma and Piper walked as fast as they could as they carried an injured Pamela towards the edge of the attic. They set her down and Piper ran over to the Book of Shadows, Emma shook Pamela and shook her head at the oldest Halliwell looking frantically through the tome._

"_He's gonna be in here in a matter of seconds and it's now you start looking at that thing?" She snarled._

_Piper ignored her, "Paige! Get your ass down here!" she shouted to the ceiling. The baby sister appeared in a flash of orbs with Phoebe and Brennan._

"_I thought we agreed that she wasn't going to be part of this! She can only levitate!" Piper exclaimed as she pointed at Phoebe._

"_She refused to stay behind," Paige said sheepishly._

"_Piper, I'm got going to sit here and watch you all die! You need the Power of Three!" The middle sister protested. Piper rolled her eyes,_

"_Fine! Paige, heal Pamela, Emma, get the potions, you two…" She gestured wildly at Phoebe and Brennan, "Kick some ass!"_

_Everyone went to their places, Paige let a glow from her hands flow across her niece as Emma ran across the room towards a table covered with potions, but he flamed in in front of her before she could get there._

"_I was expecting a bit more of a fight…" He smirked._

"_And you'll get one…" Piper growled, throwing up her hands and blasting the demon into a tornado of swirling molecules. Emma ran through the separated being and reached the potions on the table, "Brennan, blast him!" the oldest yelled another order, Brennan fired two tesla coils just after the demon reformed, he was able to deflect the attack and sending Brennan sailing into a pile of cardboard boxes. He then turned to Phoebe and smirked._

"_Let's weed out the weak, shall we?" A fireball appeared in his hand._

"_I couldn't agree more…" She snarled, levitating into a horizontal position and kicking him in the chest, sending him to the floor as she slowly lowered down, "Paige!"_

"_Crystals! Circle!" the youngest Charmed One ordered as she finished healing Pamela. The five crystals sitting in the chest of drawers orbed out and orbed back in around the demon._

"_Okay Pheebs, time to test that new spell of yours!" Piper shouted as Emma collected more potions._

"_I don't think so…" he smirked again, a powerful light shot from his hands, the crystals scattered and the blast sent everyone in the room flying, everyone except the person who had been standing behind him. Emma threw potion after potion at him, each of them making a small burn in his clothes, he growled behind clamped down teeth and threw out a fireball…_

Phoebe's eyes returned from their blank white state as she came out of her vision gasping for breath. Seeing into the future at will was probably one of her most draining powers, that why she rarely used it, as it took a lot more power to conjure what will be instead of what was. She leaned on the table in the kitchen of her house, still trying to catch her breath, cursing herself for not having the strength to see the rest of the battle with the mystery demon. Brennan came down the stairs wearing his leather jacket with the red and white stripes down the sleeves; he gave Phoebe a quick peck on the cheek before heading the door.

"Hey, where are you going?" She asked with a frown.

"I found some supernatural activity with the scrying crystal and I'm going to check it out,"

Phoebe sighed, "Hold it; you went searching for trouble, again?" Her eyes widened.

"I'm just doing my bit to make the city safer for Connor…" He kissed her forehead and went for the door, but she wasn't going to let him go that easily.

"Hold it! How about spending some time with your family instead of trying to protect us?" it was when he turned around that she was hit with an empathic emotion, she gasped in realization, "Oh my God… You're bored here, aren't you?"

Brennan sighed, "I'm not bored, I'm just a little… restless,"

"Why? Are we not exciting enough for you?" Phoebe said in disgust,

"It's not that, it's just… There was always action when we were in Mutant X, we always had some mission to do, and it's not like that here…"

"So you're saying that it's boring here?" She glared at her husband.

"No, but I need time to adjust!"

"And you need to spend that time fighting demons?"

He sighed again, "Look, I'm leaving, hopefully you'll have cooled down when I get back!" he stormed towards the door and opened it forcefully just as Piper was about the ring the doorbell. Phoebe stomped towards the door,

"Yeah, that's right! Run away!" She shouted as Brennan sped off. The eldest sister stood there awkwardly,

"Uh… fight?" She smiled.

Phoebe rolled her eyes and invited her sister in…

* * *

Paige walked along the isle as she looked at all of the dogs in the cages; the pound was a mass of barking and whining from all of the different animals. Emma and Pamela walked behind her, giving suspicious looks to all the mutts in the cage.

"Okay, when I said you needed a roommate, this isn't what I had in mind," Emma pulled a face at a Doberman that was clawing at its cage.

"Oh, c'mon Em, didn't you have a pet when you were a kid?" Paige knelt down to look at a dog with great effort as her stomach was getting in the way.

"Yeah, I had… a sheep and a goat," Pamela and Paige gave her a strange look, "My parent were very "against technology" I lived on a diet of lamb and goats milk," she grimaced at the memory.

The Halliwell teen stifled a laugh, "And I though my childhood was screwed up…"

"Aw…" Paige knelt down to see a dog with a small body and huge eyes, "She looking at me,"

"Yeah, she's also looking at two to three weeks tops, look at all the health problems this thing has!"

The witchlighter stood up and glared at her niece, "Okay, what's your problem with dogs?" she folded her arms and rested them on her belly.

"Nothing, I just don't see how you're going to look after one, you work full time and you're pregnant,"

"Oh c'mon, it's not as if I'll be pregnant forever and I can walk it in the morning, spend the night with it, and take it out night! What's the problem?"

Pamela held her hands up in defeat, "Nothing! I just want to make sure you know what you're getting yourself into…"

"I believe I'm getting the "A dog is for life, not for Christmas" speech off my niece! I think I can… Oh my God!"

"What?" The two witches said in unison, checking Paige's stomach.

"I found the perfect dog!" she ran past them and went over to one of the cages, a small blonde Labrador sat pawing delicately at the cage, it looked up to the youngest Charmed One with big brown eyes and whimpered, Paige's heart melted instantly.

"Oh, I want that one!" She said like a small child.

Emma looked at the information board hanging on the cage, "Wow… Grab her fast, she's house trained, no illnesses… I'm surprised she hasn't been picked up!"

"Okay, you two stand in front of the cage while I go talk to the guy, I don't want anyone getting her first," She walked off to find one of the caretakers.

"Looks I'll have time to get ready for my date after all…" Emma smirked.

"You've got a date?" Pamela raised her eyebrows, "Who with?"

"Grant," She beamed, "He asked me out when he saw me at the library in Magic School,"

"Who would have thought that a good looking guy would pick up in a library?"

The psionic laughed, "Yeah, we've been flirting forever so I guess it's about time,"

"Are you gonna tell Aunt Paige?" Pamela wore a neutral expression.

She had to think about it, "No… I think with her experience with Elementals, she'll just fill my head with doubt,"

The teen nodded, "Good point… Speak of the angel…" She smirked when Paige walked towards them.

Emma mouthed "Not a word" to Pamela before moving out of the way to let the caretaker into the cage…

* * *

Paige jumped off from the large stone she had been sitting on; she paced around a meditating Phoebe and was beginning to lose her patience while Piper leaned against the wall with her arms folded. The youngest evil sister finally stopped pacing lost her temper,

"What's taking so long?"

"Paige…" Piper began.

"Every second she spends with her eyes in different times is another second wasted!" she spat, Phoebe's eyes returned from their white state.

"What did you see?" Piper asked, getting up from the wall.

Phoebe gritted her teeth, "Nothing, I went as far as I could in both directions, and I couldn't find him,"

"What's does that mean?"

"It means we're screwed…"Paige growled, "Maybe we should just cut our losses and come clean with our counterparts, you know, maybe they can help us,"

"After everything we've did to try and get their powers? I don't think they'll help,"

"But surely if we explain to them…" Phoebe began.

"No! We'll defeat this guy, take his power, and then go back to our world!"

"Unless he's the Nameless One…" The middle sister murmured.

Piper rolled her eyes, "The Nameless One doesn't have a form, we know that!"

"So these are the joint leaders of the Underworld I've heard so much about… What a bunch of idiots," A voice echoed through the cavern, the three Charmed Ones looked around edgily, before seeing the demon flame in. Phoebe and Paige stood at either side of Piper, ready to fight if they had to, "Relax girls, I'm just here to blow your cover," He threw out his hand, a gaseous substance flew out, and hit the three evil Charmed Ones, it didn't seem to do any damage.

"What did you do?" Phoebe snarled.

"I just lifted the guise of evil you've been wearing,"

"You know? How do you-," Paige was cut off.

The demon smiled, "I share the same gift as your sister," he gestured to Phoebe, "To sense the true emotions and thoughts of people,"

"We didn't come here to lose to some no name demon, we'll take your powers along with our counterparts," Piper said heartlessly.

"Do you really have the heart to kill the Charmed Ones? You're on the side of good, the only reason you want to kill them is so you have enough power to kill whatever evil that took over your world…."

Paige stood with her nostrils flared before taking action, "Dark matter! Circle!"

A pile of black crystals stood one of the pillars; they disappeared in white orbs and reformed in the shape of a circle around the demon, trapping him in a cage with blood red bars.

"Did you see that?" The witchlighter looked shocked at what she had just done.

"White orbs… He lifted the power masking potion," Phoebe answered, realizing that their cloak of fake evil had been broken. The demon grinned from his prison, releasing a blue light from his hands, but the cage stood strong and he looked angry,

"Dark matter, stronger than your average magical crystals," Piper looked confident, the demon gave her smug look before around twenty other demons shimmered in, one of them kicked a piece of the dark matter away from the circle and set free their leader, advancing on the no longer evil Charmed Ones…

* * *

Phoebe and Piper sat in the coffee shop while Connor slept in the stroller, eldest Halliwell had been drinking her coffee silently while she listened to her sister moan about the argument she had had with Brennan, Piper knew from experience that that if had a fight with your partner, you really only wanted someone to listen.

"So, am I out of line for bitching at him?" Phoebe asked.

"Well… If he's constantly hunting and not taking advantage of the rare magical break we've been having recently then yeah. You know our family; trouble always finds us if we look for it and since he's part of that family…"

"Ugh… But I know that I'm going to end up apologizing, I always do, I just feel guilty for shouting at him,"

"Phoebe, he's thirty three, not three, you don't need to feel guilty for putting him in his place,"

"I guess… So anyway, where's your gang today?" Phoebe folded her arms on the table.

"Uh… Emma and Pamela went with Paige to go looking for roommates, the boys are at a friend's house, and Leo's been with the Elders all day trying to figure out who the mystery demon is,"

"There's nothing in the Book of Shadows?" The middle sister frowned, Piper nodded,

"Which means one of two things, no one in our family has come up against him…"

"Or he predates the Book and we have no idea what we're dealing with," Phoebe finished solemnly, "Roommate? I thought Paige said that she didn't want of need one?" she took a sip from her coffee mug.

"Me too, but I guess things change…"

* * *

Emma looked nervously at the clock in Paige's kitchen; she had two hours until Grant would ring the doorbell at the Manor and be ready to take her to a fancy restaurant. The puppy was sniffing around its new home; Paige had taken the initiative to buy everything before she got the dog so she was prepared.

"Have you got any names for her?" Pamela said as she petted the little dog.

"No… But I'll think of one appropriate for her, she's blonde, she's cute, I'm there's tons of names!" Paige grinned as she picked up her pet and it started to lick her face.

The psionic decided this would be as good a time as any to escape, as her friend was currently occupied.

"Uh… Paige, I gotta go," She began to walk towards the door.

"Okay!" She shouted, still distracted by the wriggling mutt in her hands.

Emma smiled at her luck and made a quick escape…

* * *

Leo stood at the top of the Golden Gate Bride with a couple of the other Elders, they had been debating about the demon that had been released a week ago, the others assumed that the sudden death of demonic activity was because the Underworld was in chaos with another demon making a play for leadership against the Evil Charmed Ones.

"How is it possible that we haven't heard about this demon before? Elders have been around for thousands of years!" Leo exclaimed.

"There are few demons that predate our knowledge, and it's usually the most powerful…" Sandra said lowly. Orbs began to form and Kheel appeared,

"We may have found something…" He said.

"What is it?" Odin asked,

"The demon that was sealed shortly before the Hollow, and from what Brennan and the young Halliwell tell us, the being was released from a box,"

"It can't be the Nameless One…" Sandra breathed, "It doesn't have a physical form!"

"But Pamela said that the demons sacrificed themselves to revive it, maybe it got a physical form by absorbing the essence of the demons?" Leo suggested.

"It is possible, although only followers of the Nameless One have the power to do that, and they're extremely powerful, your niece and brother in law were lucky to survive,"

"That's the thing, they shouldn't of, apparently someone or something orbed them out from afar,"

"What?" Odin breathed, "What whitelighter would have been there?"

"Me…" A voice echoed, Andy appeared in a swirl of orbs, "Me…" he repeated.

"Andrew… Why?" Sandra looked at him with a shocked expression.

"I sensed my daughter in danger and I wasn't going to let her die, no matter what rules you've set to keep her away from me," he growled.

"How dare you disobey our orders!" Kheel gritted his teeth.

"If I had obeyed your rules then we'd have two dead witches on our hands!"

Leo looked at his fellow Elders, "You forbade him from seeing Pamela?" he clenched his fists.

"We thought it would distract him from his duties, he's lucky that his daughter didn't lose her powers," Odin sneered.

"Pamela is part of my old life! She shouldn't be punished for my actions as a whitelighter!" Andy roared.

"We will have to deal with this later Andrew…" Sandra said sympathetically before orbing out with the rest of the Elders.

Andy growled and shook his head, Leo went over to him and but a hand on his shoulder, "I'll protect her… Don't worry," Andy gave a nod of thanks before orbing out…

* * *

Brennan came in the front door, he had been going over everything that he had said to Phoebe before leaving and he still thought that she was in the wrong. She just couldn't understand that he needed time to adjust.

"Can we talk?" A voice came from the living room; Phoebe sat with a pitiful expression on her face on the sofa.

"Yeah… Where's Connor?" He asked he sat down on the opposite couch.

"Upstairs, asleep. Look, Brennan, I know that probably have a lot of things to say about this, but just let me speak first." She took a deep breath, "I was wrong to lose it with you earlier and for that I'm sorry for that, but… Please try to see where I'm coming from here, honey, I have fought demons non stop for the past eight years! It's very rare for us to get a break in the battles, and when you… go off looking for a fight, not only do I get pissed off but I get scared at the fact that you won't come back. That whatever demon you went to fight was the one that killed you! Brennan, I've too many people to evil, my Mom, by sister… I don't want you to join them!" Brennan sighed and gestured her come over, she stood up and sat sideways over him so her legs her hanging off the side of the one seater. She put her arms around his neck and looked at him with tearful eyes,

"I love you, and Connor, more than anything in the world, you know that, right?" Phoebe responded by kissing him, he smiled, "Thought so, but constantly fighting evil is the only way I've known for the past four years, and now I have this normal life with my family instead of living in a cave… and it's taking me a while to adjust to this new way life. But I guess I'm sorry to, now that I look back, I don't really know why I want to spend my time chasing demons instead of spending it with you and our baby. And to make up for that, we can spend the entire day tomorrow, just lazing around here, no demons,"

Phoebe smiled at him, "That has to be the best thing you've said all day," She nuzzled into his cheek and they sat there in perfect peace…

* * *

Piper sat staring at the fireplace in the living room with a glass of red wine in her hand, she watched the flames dance on the burning wood, it was very rare for her to get this sort of peaceful time, she wondered if it would be like this if they ever defeated evil. Pam walked in with a yawn; she was wearing pajama pants with baggy shirt that looked way too big for her.

"Where did you get that shirt?" Piper frowned at her.

Pamela wiggled her eyebrows, "Wouldn't you like to know…"

The doorbell went and Piper moved to get it, but the fast clicking of heels could be heard as Emma rushed into the foyer, still putting one of her earrings in. She was wearing a black dress that looped around her neck and left most of her back exposed, her hair was worn up, which was unusual for Emma as she always wore it down, small whisps of hair framed her face perfectly. She straightened out her dress, took a deep breath and walked towards the door, before eager voices in the living room stopped her.

"Wait! You can't leave without giving us a twirl!" Pamela smirked.

Emma glared at them both before spinning on the spot hurriedly, then composing her self again and answering the door. Piper smiled as she listened to the exchange to greetings, then hearing the door shut as Emma left. The teen walked toward the window and watched the couple,

"Okay, he opened the car door for her, good sign," She turned around and saw her aunt look distant, "What?"

"Emma and I watched Paige go off in Aidan's car the night he said that he loved her," Piper replied weakly.

"Do you think everything will work out with them?" Pamela nodded at the car outside.

"I don't know… All I can say is that I'm glad there are no more male elementals for us to go through…"

She smiled in response before there was a crash upstairs, "Here we go again…" Piper groaned as she set her wine down on the floor and climbed the stairs with her niece.

They gasped in horror when they saw the Evil Charmed Ones barely standing, their clothes were torn and they were covered in cuts and bruises. Paige stood in the centre, she had obviously been the cause of their escape, she let go of her two sisters and they fell to the ground,

"Help… Us…" Paige said horsely before coughing up blood and falling to the ground next to her sisters…

* * *

**Uh oh, will they help the counterparts? Read the next chapter to find out… or just read the summary.**

**NEXT TIME:** After hearing the true story of from their counterparts, the Charmed Ones go to another world where everyone leaves in fear of a super powerful warlock. Pamela wonders about Leo's sudden guardian like behavior and will the Mulwrays ever have a day to themselves?

Chapter 8 **"Vanquishes That Changed The World"** will be up soon!

PS: What do you think i should name Paige's dog? Leave your suggestions in your reviews!


	8. Vanquishes That Change The World

Wyatt halliwell – Lol, I'm still deciding on the dog names, and what a twist, eh?

Unique deflection – Yeah, what a surprise! And I'm still thinking about the dog name

Phoebe turner – Thanks! And you'll need to wait and see about Aidan!

Prince Halliwell – Do you remember the power masking potion from the chapter "Witch Swap" in A Power Divided? Well, they used the fixed version of that to make themselves look evil! Yeah, I agree with you about Piper, but she has a love and children, so I've been struggling to fit her in. Interesting theories about Aidan, I still haven't made up my mind about the dog names. Keep an eye on that vision, it means a lot in the future…

Andy20 – Thanks for the suggestion! You'll need to wait and see about Phoebe's powers!

Piperfairy – They used a refined version of the power masking potion from a chapter in the previous story and it was the Evil Charmed Ones, but they've been pretending all this time.

Pangea – Hi! It's good to see new readers! I've decided on a new power for Paige but I'm going to bring it in after the twins are born so people don't think she's channeling their powers.

Princess Pinky – Lol, you're going to hate me by the end of this chapter by the way, thought I'd warn you! And thanks, I don't usually think I'm good at describing woman's clothes since I'm a guy lol! The Nameless One's sticking around I'm afraid, and I think they should get a pet in the show lol! I hope you enjoy/enjoying your trip! I can't wait for an update on your new fic!

**A/N: I'm going to refer to the counterparts as "Evil" so it's less confusing, but they're not evil lol!

* * *

**

**Vanquishes That Changed The World**

Piper set down the final crystal, it made a humming noise and glowed as it completed the circle and trapped the counterparts. Phoebe sat in the seat next to the window in complete silence with her eyes closed, unbeknownst to her niece and sister; she was casting her minds eye into the past to try and find out happened.

"What are you doing? They're going to die and you're trapping them?" Pamela raised an eyebrow.

"No, I'm using the life support crystals that we used on the Elementals," Phoebe opened her eyes and gave her sister a look, along with Pamela, the eldest sister smirked, "You weren't here…" She pointed to her younger sibling, "And it was before your time," She nodded towards her niece, "The point is it gradually heals them, but traps them at the same time, I'm not going to call for Leo or Paige when that Paige could easily conjure a crossbow and kill them both, not to mention my children,"

Pamela smirked, "But you did call Paige…"

The Charmed One blinked a few times, "Yeah… Well, it's a magic related emergency and she can look after herself since one of her kids has got that orb shield thing going on,"

Orbs began to form next to her as Paige appeared, "Okay, what's the 911?" She placed her hands on her hips.

"The 911 is healing in our cage," Piper gestured at the floor calmly.

The witchlighter gave her sister a shocked look, "You're using the life support crystals? Are you crazy? This is our chance to get rid of them! How you stopped all three with just you and Pam is a miracle!"

"Okay, first of all, slightly offended by the miracle remark, just because you're invincible it doesn't mean you're than us," Piper grinned, "Second of all, they didn't attack us, we heard a crash up here and they were barely standing. Your counterpart made a plea for help, ruined my floor," She gestured to the blood on the floorboard that Paige had coughed up, "And joined her sisters on the ground,"

"Okay, the boys are down," Leo came in with Brennan.

"Thanks honey," Piper gave her husband a quick peck on the cheek before turning back to immediate situation. There was a groan from the cage the witches began to come to, looking around at their surroundings and staring at the glowing wall of the crystal cage.

"One wrong move, I set those crystals to stun," the eldest Halliwell warned with narrow eyes,

The Phoebe in the cage rolled her eyes and turned to her little sister, "Jailbreak?"

"Ugh… Fine! Crystal!" She said calmly. One of the crystals disappeared in white orbs and reappeared in the counterparts hand,

"How did she do that?" Paige whispered.

Piper made a gesture at the three escaping witches, when nothing happened she began to snap her hands open and closed wildly, "Uh… They're not freezing!"

Piper's counterpart rolled her eyes, "Good witches don't freeze," she said.

"I knew it!" Phoebe said triumphantly, "Even when she attacked me and Brennan on the road ages ago, I didn't sense any evil from her!" she pointed at her counterpart.

"Easy for you to say, you weren't dying from a head injury!" Brennan scowled.

Phoebe laughed, "Yeah, and if it wasn't for And… My help, you would have died," she took a deep breath after almost slipping up and saying Andy's name in front of her family.

"People, can we please focus on the mortal enemies in the middle of the room?" Piper made a face. The counterpart walked over to Piper and sighed,

"We need to talk,"

* * *

The three "evil" witches sat on the sofa awkwardly while the Charmed Ones, Pamela, Leo and Brennan. All of them had just at in silence for around ten minutes and everyone was afraid of talking to one another, Pamela how ever, was not fazed by this,

"So, are you going to tell us why you all landed in a crippled wreck on our floor or are you going to make us guess?" She received a hit on the leg from Piper, as Pamela sitting on the arm of the chair.

Evil Piper smiled wryly, "I miss our Pam's bluntness…" She said.

"There's a Pam in your world?" Pamela said in disbelief, "Am I prettier than her?" This got her another slap on the leg.

"Oddly, you're both the same…" Evil Phoebe smirked.

Evil Piper looked between her sisters, "Alright, who wants to tell the story?" the older ones looked at Paige, who rolled her eyes, "Hey, you were the one that brought us here, you can explain to them!"

"Oh, alright!" She took a deep breath, "We are… just like you, in our world, we were Charmed Ones, fighting demons and on the side of good, until Medlock came,"

"Medlock?" Phoebe frowned.

"We don't know where he came from; he's a powerful warlock that just suddenly came into our lives. We had no warning and we just thought it was a regular demon attack! Well, he drove us out of the Manor, took the Nexus and Book of Shadows and we lived in Magic School after that,"

"Did you ever try to take him out again?" Piper asked.

"Countless times, and we barely escaped with our lives," Evil Paige said solemnly.

"So are you going to explain why you've tried to kill us for the past year and a half?" Paige said cheekily.

"Paige!" Phoebe glared at her.

"Blame it on the hormones," She smirked back

The middle sister waggled her finger, "You can only use that excuse for six more months, milk it!" All three Charmed Ones laughed, knowing the joys of pregnancy. Evil Piper's eyes began to well up, she wiped her tears away immediately and Phoebe put her arm around her shoulders,

"What's wrong?" Pamela's brow furrowed.

"She misses Prue…" Evil Phoebe replied.

"Oh… Did she die just recently in your world?" Piper said sympathetically.

Her counterpart smiled, "No, Prue is my daughter,"

"Uh… Hello? Still got an unanswered question over here!" Paige waved her hand in the air.

"We needed more power so we could defeat Medlock, you girls were just in the world we landed in, nothing personal," Evil Piper said, her steely attitude now back.

"I don't get it, why didn't you just ask for our help when you came here?" Phoebe asked her counterpart, who grinned.

"Oh c'mon, you're just like us, and we knew if three witches looking exactly like us came through a portal wanting to us to go to their world to fight a terrible evil, we'd wouldn't trust them as far as we could throw them. Besides, it was easier on our conscience if we thought of you as the enemy,"

Piper sneered and nodded her head, "She has a point,"

The two sets of Charmed Ones sat there in silence until Phoebe spoke, "We'll help you," both of her sisters gaped at her, "Providing…" She glared at Piper and Paige, "Other Phoebe lets me see her past,"

"Done," Evil Phoebe said immediately…

* * *

Emma walked slowly towards the front door with Grant walking along side her, he hands his hands in his pockets as he paced. She had to admit to herself that he really had surprised her, after taking her to a beautiful restaurant, he had driven them down to the beach and they had just sat and talked about everything, their childhood, their dreams, everything!

She smiled seductively at him, "I had a great time,"

He grinned back, ever since they had met they had done this to each other, "Well, I aim to please,"

"You wanna come in?" An innocent smile spread across her face.

He grinned, "As much as I would love to, I can't, me and the other Elementals have got the balance thing to do tomorrow and I need all my energy, which means a god nights sleep. I'll stop by though and we'll sort something out,"

Emma nodded and then narrowed her eyes, "Elementals… Have you picked someone to replace Aidan?"

Grant looked at her fearfully, knowing that she would sense it if he was lying, "Um… We haven't needed to replace him, he's been at every balancing ritual since…" he trailed off as he saw his date's eyes widen.

"He's been in San Francisco? He hasn't even come to see Paige! Or has he?"

"No, he said that if he saw her, he wouldn't be able to leave her," He suddenly picked up on what Emma was planning, "Wait, you can't-,"

"Watch me…"She gave him a dark look before a crash from the inside interrupted her stare. Fumbling with the keys, she swung the door open just in time to see Piper fly into the foyer table and Paige was standing fearfully behind the orb shield one of her unborn children had created.

"A shield won't protect you from this…" The Nameless One growled, waving his arm and sending Paige across the room, but she landed safely on the sofa, unconscious though.

"You're an Elemental! Do something!" Emma hit Grant wildly until his body suddenly dissolved into sand, it swirled like a tornado before turning into a stream of the grainy substance, flying at The Nameless One then taking the form of a sandstorm. The demon waved his limbs at the sand that was hitting him and impairing his vision,

"Enough of this… Subsisto!" He shouted in Latin, the sand halted in its hovering place and he flamed out of the trap. Emma looked around, everyone was knocked out! There was no one around to help her. The Evil Charmed Ones came out of the living room; they stared at the demon fearlessly in the eye and began to chant,

"Power of Three will set us free,

Power of Three will set us free!"

The demon rolled his eyes and raised his hands above his head, creating a large fireball the throwing it at the Charmed Ones. It hit dead on and all three were sent flying back into the living room.

He turned to Emma and grinned, "Looks like it's just you and me, red,"

The psionic glared at him the fired a mental blast at him, and it had a surprising effect. The demon's body faded away for a split second, but in that second, a dark cloud of evil stood there. Emma gasped as she realized that this was The Nameless One's true form, it released a shot of black energy that sent Emma flying through the front door, smashing the windows and making the doors fly off their hinges as they were being forced open the wrong way. The demon's body came back and he groaned as he held his forehead before flaming out.

Paige came to and looked around, she was thankful to have landed on a soft surface as Phoebe had told her about the miscarriage she had had with Connor during a plane crash, she had been lucky to get him back after that. Quickly noticing that everyone was starting to wake up, she frowned at the sand that was suspended in mid air.

"Ugh… Is everyone okay?" She squinted around.

Leo looked around before noticing his wife lying in the wreckage of the table, "Piper!" He scrambled over to her body and began to heal her, "Paige!" He shouted, noticing Emma was dying in the doorframe. Paige rushed to the aid of her best friend, releasing a healing glow over her chest and was confused when it didn't work,

"No… No, this can't happen!" She noticed blood oozing from underneath the psionic, Paige turned her over cautiously and found why she wasn't healing, a broken piece of wood had impaled her, "Wood shaft!" the wood orbed out of Emma Back and Paige went back to healing.

Brennan gently shook his wife awake and Phoebe's eyes flickered open, she leaned up and wrapped her arms around his neck, "That was too close!" she whispered as she nuzzled into his neck,

"I know…" He pulled her into a hug and brought her to her feet.

The Evil Charmed Ones got up and Evil Phoebe looked at her counterpart, "Do you believe us now?"

* * *

All six Charmed Ones stood in front of a triquetra that had been drawn onto the wall of the attic while the others were downstairs with the book trying to find a way to unfreeze Grant, they had tried spells, potions and even the two Pipers had tried to use their power of reverse it, but nothing was working.

Evil Phoebe pulled a sheet of paper from her pocket and gave it to her counterpart, "Use this spell to open the portal,"

"Why can't you guys do it?" Paige frowned.

"Because Medlock will sense us opening the portal, you guys will be able to open it undetected,"

"I dunno… I'm still not sure about you going," Piper nodded to her youngest sister,

"Oh c'mon, you wanted to go everywhere when you were pregnant with Wyatt! I have the force field, I have the right," She smirked.

"Yeah Piper, she's packin more heat than the rest of us with my little nieces growing in her belly!" Phoebe said in a baby voice as she rubbed Paige's stomach, who quickly swatted her sister's hand away. The Phoebe stood in the middle of her two sisters and held out the spell so they could see it,

"In this place and in this hour,

We call upon the ancient power,

Open the door through time and space,

Create a path to another place,"

The portal opened, a buzzing sound went through the entire attic as the Charmed Ones walked through…

* * *

For once, they had a smooth landing, walking into the attic of this world gracefully as the portal closed behind the six witches. The attic looked exactly the same, apart from the fact that it was completely empty and only the Book of Shadows remained on its pedestal next to the window.

"Wow… I can see you guys aren't big on clutter," Paige sneered at the hollow room before her counterpart shushed her.

"The guards will be us if you don't shut up!" She hissed, but it was too late, three demons shimmered in and began to throw fireballs. One of the twins raised the shield of orbs immediately, protecting Paige the people who immediately surrounded her. The counterparts immediately sprung into action, Piper blowing up one of demons while Phoebe charged at the other, levitating into the air and jumped over the demon, then levitating again and hitting the demon in the back with a back turn kick and making him landed on one of the weapons that now filled the attic, vanquishing him. Paige merely deflected a fireball and vanquished the third, while the Good Charmed Ones stood in awe,

"Can we do that?" Phoebe's eyes bulged.

Evil Paige went over to her counterpart as the shield dropped, "Orb your sisters to Magic School," the Evil witches joined hands and disappeared in a flurry of lights, the others followed suit.

Unbeknownst to them, Medlock blinked in just after they orbed out. After sensing that his guards had been killed, he had come in to see what had vanquished them. He knelt down and picked up the dust that was now his minion, letting it fall through his fingers, "Witches…" he growled, before standing up and blinking out………

The six of them orbed into the Great Hall, it was a definite change from the Magic School that the sisters were used to. Darkness provided a cloak of secrecy to the run down chamber, making it look as if it was trying to hide from something or someone. Black orbs began to appear in front of them and they took the form of Leo, who held out a crossbow, which Good Piper immediately blew up,

"What the hell!" she exclaimed when Leo conjured an energy ball. Evil Piper suddenly walked forward and grabbed Leo's face, pulling him into a passionate kiss, making him extinguish the energy ball and hold her head to intensify the kiss "Is it weird that I feel slightly betrayed by this?" Good Piper asked her sisters, who merely smirked.

"Piper…" He whispered hoarsely as she finally let go of him.

"Oh my God, you're finally back!" a voice came from the hallway, the sisters looked over Leo and Piper to see this world's Pamela walk into the Great Hall, "Oh, are we entertaining shape shifters?" She glared at the Alternate Charmed Ones. Piper snorted,

"Nice to see all Pam's have that wit…"

Evil Piper ignored her niece, "Where's Prue?" She asked her husband.

"With Brennan in the nursery," Leo replied.

"Wait, there's a Brennan in this world too?" Phoebe asked, her counterpart nodded.

Paige looked up, "Does that mean…"

Her counterpart shook her head, "Sorry, I never fell head over heels for an Elemental," Paige's head fell along with her spirits.

"Wait, I don't get it, why are all of your powers evil?" Piper looked at all of the people from this world.

"That would be courtesy of my potion," Pamela said proudly, "All the flaws have been ironed out of course,"

Evil Piper turned to her sisters, "I'm gonna go see Prue, you coming, Pheebs?"

"Are you kidding? I want to see Brennan!" Evil Phoebe grinned and followed her sister and brother in law out of the room.

Evil Paige turned to the good sisters and sighed, "Let's get to work,"

* * *

Emma jogged down the stairs; she had decided to get changed out of her dress as it wasn't the best thing to wear if the Nameless One was going to have an encore that night. Pamela threw another potion as the floor, hoping that it would unfreeze tornado of sand that was still frozen in the sun living room while Brennan looked at the Book of Shadows, Leo had went taken the three children to Magic School.

"Okay, that potion was the last thing I had," Pamela threw her arms to her sides in defeat.

"Nothing in the Book either," Brennan closed the tome.

"Maybe there's a release word," Emma suggested, which got her strange looks, "The demon said something on Latin to freeze him, maybe there's a Latin word to unfreeze him,"

"Unless one of us suddenly gains the ability to speak Latin, I don't think that'll do it,"

A wind suddenly blew through the room and Book of Shadows reopened, its pages flying,

"Whoa!" Brennan stood up, surprised.

Pamela waved her hand, "It tends to do that sometimes, don't worry about it," she walked over to see what page it had landed on, "Let's see what we've got here… A list of Latin commands, I thought you said there was nothing in here," Pamela stared at her uncle.

"Well that was before I knew about the whole Latin thing!" He said in his defense.

"Uh huh," The teen replied with a doubtful tone, "Look, here's one, Permoveo!" She made an awkward turning gesture with her hand and the sand began to move again, becoming Grant.

"Where'd the demon go?" he asked, completely unaware that he had been frozen…

* * *

A mushroom cloud of smoke billowed from the potion pot as the two Paige's waved away the soot with their arms. The two Phoebe's were working on a spell to vanquish Medlock while the two Piper's sat with little Prue.

"Okay, the spell's done," Phoebe handed it to her big sister, who made a face,

"It's not your finest work, Pheebs,"

"Well, it'll do, even if the rhyme's a bit crappy, besides, I think any spell would kick ass if it has the Power of Six behind it!" She turned to her little sister, "How are those potions coming?"

"Pretty good," She filled a vial to the top, "We're almost ready to go,"

"Mommy," Prue began as she sat in her mother's lap, "Why does that lady look like you?"

Evil Piper looked at her counterpart, "Um… I'll tell you when you're older,"

Prue was five years old, the same age as Wyatt, she had hazel brown eyes and dark brown hair to match, she looked more like Piper than Leo but that was to be expected.

"I think we're all set," Evil Paige announced as she shoved a couple of potions into the pouch attached to her hip, "You guys ready?"

"Are you sure you guys wanna go in alone?" Brennan asked, who had just come into the room.

Evil Phoebe walked up to him and kissed him deeply in the same fashion that Piper had done to Leo, "I haven't seen you in two years, I'm not about to die now that I'm just back,"

The middle Halliwell turned to her sister, "I'm starting to get that betrayed feeling you were talking about," Piper held back a choke of laughter.

"Has everyone got their piece of dark matter?" Piper held up the black crystal in her hand, her sisters, along with Piper and Phoebe held theirs up, Paige didn't have one because she part of the plan, "Okay, let's go,"

Everyone huddled around Evil Paige, except for her counterpart who orbed out by herself while the other five orbed out together…

* * *

Paige orbed into the foyer by herself, the Manor was deadly quiet for some reason and the floor was completely blank, there was no furniture or anything, just blank space. She walked forwards slightly, clutching onto a potion vial in her hand tightly as she looked around,

"Looking for me?" Medlock walked into the middle living room from the sunroom confidently, "One witch? Well, I was expecting six, but I guess you'll have to do," He threw out an energy ball, which was neutralized by the force field of orbs that extended from Paige's stomach as soon the attack had left his hand, "Impressive! Any more tricks up your sleeve?"

She cocked her head slightly, "Plenty," She waved her arm quickly and aggressively, but the telekinetic blast only made him stumble back slightly.

"I've learned to become immune to the party tricks of witches…" He growled.

"Oh yeah? Well, here's something you might not be so immune to, now!"

The five other Charmed Ones jumped out from five directions, placing a piece of dark matter at each point, blood red strings of light shot from the crystals as they hummed, meeting each other at the top and trapping the warlock.

"You can't stop me with a crystal cage, you tried that last time!" He blinked out, but reappeared instantly and stumbled.

"A dark matter cage isn't the same, it's a lot more powerful," Evil Piper growled. The six witches surrounded the trapped evil being and began to the spell that would hopefully vanquish him and being this world back to the way it was supposed to be,

"Powers of right,

Magic of might,

Beings of light,

Remove this blight,

From our sight!"

The warlock was tortured by flames before a large burst of fire flew from the floor and consumed him, an explosion signified the vanquish. The three Evil Charmed Ones stood in awe at what had just happened.

"We did it…"

* * *

Pamela, Leo, Brennan and Emma stood in the attic, Grant had went home as he had to balance the world the next morning and he was thankful that Emma had forgotten her plans of crashing the ritual so speak to Aidan. They were waiting on the sister's return, as it was now five in the morning.

"I thought they said this wouldn't take long?" Brennan paced the attic.

"Yeah, Paige needs to check on her dog," Emma added,

"She has a dog?" Leo's eyebrows rose, the psionic smirked and laughed.

"Aw… Am I interrupting a little family gathering?" Everyone turned around to see the Nameless One standing behind them!

* * *

The three Charmed Ones stood in front of the triquetra that was drawn on the recently reclaimed Manor, the alternate family stood in front of them, beaming. The two Pipers hugged,

"Take care of your family," They whispered to each other in unison.

The two Paiges hugged next, "Good luck with the kids," Evil Paige said to her counterpart.

Instead of getting a whisper then they hugged, Phoebe got a telepathic massage from her counterpart, "They'll understand about your powers," Phoebe merely nodded before stepping back. Evil Piper picked up a box and handed it to her counterpart, "Take this, it's a box of dark matter, they should hopefully be able to contain the Nameless One and we don't need them anymore,"

Piper smiled, "Thank you,"

The Charmed Ones of this world came together and said the spell to send their counterparts back to their world.

"In this place and in this hour,

We call upon the ancient power,

Open the door through time and space,

Create a path to another place,"

The portal crackled as the blue energy appeared in the shape on the wall, the three of them walked through, knowing that they had did the right thing…

* * *

Reappearing in their world with a smile, the sisters happiness faded when they saw Brennan and Emma's solemn faces while Leo leaned over something on the couch,

"What's wrong?" Piper asked, noticing that Pam was missing.

Emma cleared her throat and talked with a cracked voice, "Pam's not waking up,"

* * *

**Well, none of you were expecting that, were you? Just when you thought everything was calm… oh well.**

**NEXT TIME:** Fueled by the anger of her niece being in a coma, Piper goes after the Nameless One herself, but he sends a time demon after her and makes her day never end.

Chapter 9 **"Time Waits For No Witch"** will be up soon!


	9. Time Waits For No Witch

Phoebe turner – Heh… I'm not revealing anything about Aidan! Thanks!

Aniaka – Ugh… You're such a slave driver! Lol, I'm cruel? Why thank you! Most of your questions will be answered in this chapter (including Emma and the Elementals) so tell me what you think of my first Piper based chapter!

Prince Halliwell – I don't think they'll be any more kids after Faith is born, but you never know! I know, ain't Aidan being an ass? And Phoebe may be powerful, but she'll still need her sisters to vanquish the Nameless One! I have so many ideas for this fic; they're bursting out my head! picks up ideas

Wyatt Halliwell – AH! I have so many story twists! But trust me, you'll love the way she comes back! That's right, Pamela will come back!

Ravenix – Well, the Nameless Ones's body is being maintained by its mind, so when Emma tampered with its mind, the illusion of a body collapsed for a brief second. Thanks!

Unique deflection – Heh… Pamela's possession power will be put to use (in the weirdest of ways) And I read your stories, they're good and there's nothing wrong with them, but speaking from personal experience and observation, the people of this site don't really like Charmed stories without the Charmed Ones in them. So just think up of any idea, maybe write about the way you want Charmed to go! Do you know how this fic started? I was sitting outside and I suddenly thought "Phoebe and Brennan are the perfect couple" and look what it's turned into! I hope I was able to help and thanks for your review!

Princess Pinky – Lol, I thought I would give you two Pams since she isn't going to be talking (or awake) for a while, and I'll let you in on a secret, I had planned to kill Emma off in the finale of the previous story (different plot of course) but in the end, I just couldn't do it! I'm sorry if I upset you, people can be jerks sometimes (I'm going through some stuff at the moment, let's just say peoples reviews for this story are one of the only things cheering me up right now) I hope you like this chapter!

**Time Waits For No Witch**

Piper sat in the chair sat to Pamela's hospital bed, she was huddled up and sleeping soundly with a blanket over her while Phoebe, Paige, Emma and Brennan argued outside of the room. The oldest sister hadn't left her niece's side as the machines that surrounded her bleeped and hummed with power.

"How did this happen? She was fine before we left!" Phoebe protested.

"The demon attacked before you guys came back, he hit her with some sort of black energy and she didn't wake up…" Brennan trailed off.

Paige put her hand on her forehead, "Bastard… I'm going to rip him a new-,"

"So how's Pam doing?" a voice said, they turned around and saw the Nameless One sitting in one of the waiting room chairs. Brennan snarled and went to fly at him, but Phoebe held him back,

"Don't… I not going to lose you too," She stared into his eyes and he stepped back.

Paige sighed and shook her head at the demon, "When we vanquish you, I'm gonna revive you and vanquish you again for the hell of it…"

"A little touchy, are we?" He smirked while rubbing his thumb and index finger together, "Just the little tart's not waking up, it doesn't mean you guys need to lose your manners,"

Emma ignited a psionic blast in front of her head, the demon's attitude changed immediately, "Unless you want to lose that body of yours, I suggest you get now," She growled, surprising her friends as they didn't know Emma could be so threatening.

"Sheer luck, red," He stood up, "Try it again and promise you won't get the evil centre you saw last time," The witch sneered and the globe grew bigger as the demon played with dark energy in his palm. Brennan pulled Emma back by her shoulders and the blast disappeared, The Nameless One pushed his hands together and the darkness vanished, "See you soon!" He flamed out just before a nurse came down the hallway.

Piper came out of Pamela's room with puffy, tired eyes, "What's going on out here?"

"Nothing." Emma replied flatly before storming off towards the bathroom, Paige went to go after her but Phoebe held up her hand,

"No, let her go. She needs to work through this by herself," She explained with a calm tone.

"Work through what?" The pregnant witch frowned.

Phoebe sighed, "The needless guilt she feels,"

* * *

Emma came into the bathroom and paced the white sterile floor. She put her hands on either side of one of the sinks and stared into the mirror, a dark eyed, pale skinned face stared back at her, none of them had had any sleep since the previous night so Emma had been awake for twenty four hours. The door squeaked open and Phoebe came in, she jumped up onto the surface and turned to Emma,

"Brennan's going to keep an eye on her, his shift starts in a couple of hours anyway," The psionic merely nodded as she looked at her tired reflection, "Talk to me… what's wrong?"

Emma snorted, "C'mon Phoebe, we're both empaths, you tell me before I'm crushed by your pity…" She growled.

The Charmed One rolled her eyes, "Here's me trying to be friendly and you basically spit in my face… Emma, you didn't know he was going to come after you guys while me and my sisters were gone, don't beat yourself up about this!"

"But if I hadn't used my powers and exposed his true form, he wouldn't have got pissed off and came back for more!"

"Emma," Phoebe lay a hand on her shoulder, "You're our main weapon against this guy, when I hit him with a psionic blast in our first confrontation it didn't do anything. Maybe it's something to do with you not being a born witch,"

The psionic snorted, "So me being a freak is finally coming in handy, huh?"

"And as for Pamela… Well, I haven't known her s long as you, but she's a fighter, she'll be back on her feet and awake in no time!"

Emma shook her head and sighed, "I guess…"

* * *

Phoebe walked into the nursery and saw Connor sleeping peacefully in the playpen. She smiled at Miss Winterbourne before gently picking up her son and shushing him as he began to wake, hoping that he wouldn't take a tantrum from being disturbed. The Charmed One slung the diaper bag over her shoulder as she balanced a groggy Connor on her left hip.

"Hey! Mrs Mulwray!" A voice hailed her as she walked down hall, Phoebe turned around as saw Zach and Jenna walking towards her. The witch cringed when she realized that her niece's best friends had no idea about Pamela's condition.

"Hey you two, there's still a week of holidays left, what are you doing here?"

"Bookworm here…" Jenna nudged Zach, "Decided we should start getting ready for the new year by getting all the stuff we needed for our classes."

"Yeah, Pam was supposed to meet us after her morning shift at the coffee shop, but her boss said she never showed. Do you know where she is?"

Phoebe looked at the telepathic teen and let down her mental defenses, as she had sensed that Zach was trying to read her, "Actually guys…"

"Pam's in a coma?" Zach gaped, Jenna looked between her friend and Phoebe before realizing it was true.

"Yeah, a demon attacked last night and…"

"It put her in a coma," Jenna finished her sentence.

Phoebe glanced at her watch and cringed. She was late for work already and she had to go, "Look, she's at the Memorial. Ask for Brennan at the desk and you'll get in to see her, I'm sorry you guys, I have to go," She turned on her heel and walked briskly down the hall. Jenna put a hand on Zach's shoulder and made a sympathetic face,

"Do you wanna go see her? I know how you feel about Pamela… Can you cope seeing her like this?"

His voice came out cracked, "Yeah, let's go,"

* * *

Piper snapped off a piece of the burdock root and dropped it into the steaming potion pot, turning her head slightly as a small explosion erupted from the mixture. This wasn't the only cauldron she had going at the moment, as the attic was filled with potions and pots took up all four points of the stove. Paige walked in with Sandy, her new dog, at her heels, her paws made a clicking sound on the floor.

"Piper, what are you doing?" The witchlighter raised one eyebrow at her potion making sister.

"The Power of Three can't kill the Nameless One, so maybe a little Power of One is the trick," She put a white powder into one of the pots, creating another explosion, "Make that the Power of One plus twenty seven potions," She grinned.

Paige's eyes widened, "Okay, are you trying to blow up the neighborhood?" she sat down on one of the stools at the island.

"Auntie Paige! Can I go plays with your doggy?" Chris wore a big smile, knowing that his aunt was a sucker for his grin.

"Okay, but only in the back garden!" She waggled her finger at him.

"Come on Sandy! Let's go plays!" The toddler ran out of the back door with the dog running behind him, skidding on the floor. Paige frowned,

"I'm surprised she responds to her name so quickly…" Her train of thought was interrupted by another blast coming from behind her. She stifled a laugh when she saw Piper, her face covered in soot and her hair was flying in all directions, as if she was in the wind, "Honey, how much hair spray did you use when you got home from the hospital?"

The eldest sister frowned and looked up, trying to see her hair, "Only a little, why?"

"You might want to go take a shower…" Piper stomped out of the kitchen and Paige carefully slid off her barstool, "While I pour these potions down the drain," She picked up the handle of one of the pots and slowly poured it down the drain, she repeated the process with the other pots before standing triumphantly and patting her stomach, "I'm sure you two will have the same quick thinking as mommy!"

Hearing Piper coming down the stairs, Paige rushed outside and lifted up Sandy, who had been running about with Chris at the time, "I'm sorry sweetie, but you can play with her another time, okay?" her nephew nodded and she orbed out just before Piper came out to the back garden, her facial expression telling everyone she was pissed off,

"Paige!" She boomed, looking around the garden.

Chris giggled when he saw her hair, "Mommy go boom!" he made a outward gesture with his hands, making a small explosion in one of the flower beds that Piper had created with her geokinetic abilities,

"Oopsies…"

* * *

Emma appeared on the top of the Golden Gate Bridge in a swirl of golden lights, she looked around frantically and saw Skye, Danielle and Grant standing before her and the remainder of a puddle of water vanish. She had just missed him,

"Dammit!" She cursed under her breath as the Fire Elemental stepped forward.

"God! First Aidan brings his girlfriend up here, now you!" She pointed at Grant, "What do you think this is? A place to show off to your new pick of the month? Well, it's not!" Smoke flew from her nostrils and her hands became the claws of a dragon. Danielle took a deep breath and all signs of her Elemental form vanished, she gave a heated glare to Grant before flaming out in disgust.

"Does she ever wake up on the right side of the bed?" Emma sneered.

"Tell me about it!" Skye shot a look at Grant, "We need to get together with Aidan and figure out something, I know Fire Elementals are short fused by nature but she's becoming more and more pissed every day!"

"I know Skye!" Grant spat back at the eighteen year old Air Elemental, "But what are we supposed to do? I may not have been an Elemental at the time, but I remember the hellish weather that the city had after my predecessor died!" He was referring at Matt of course.

"Oh please! You don't know the half of it! And the weather wouldn't have lasted so long if you hadn't been so resistant to join us!"

"Well I'm here now! And if we are going to boot Danielle out, we should find her successor before we strip her of her powers!"

"Ugh… I'll talk to you later, hopefully when Aidan's present," She disappeared in a tornado.

Grant turned to the psionic and smiled nervously, "The whole opposing elements thing… We'd get along fine if we didn't have powers,"

Emma nodded in understanding, "I remember Aidan and Danielle fighting, but she seems to be lashing out at everyone these days!"

"Yeah… You wanna get a cup of coffee and talk about it?" He grinned and she couldn't help but grin back.

He was persistent…

* * *

Piper appeared in the Underworld within a tornado of lights, seeing five guards that had been standing at the mouth of the cave, she released an orange light from one of her hands and shot it into the ground, opening up the floor and sending the demons into the core of the earth.

Two rough looking demons shimmered in at either side of her, Piper quickly phased as they both launched energy balls at her, they vanquished each other and the Charmed One smirked as she walked towards the cave. Just before she crossed the threshold, the stone and rock began to shift and the entrance was blocked. Piper didn't know if she would be able to stay phased for the amount of time it took to run through the wall, so she resorted to her geokinesis and blast an orange light at the ground. The wall began to fall away but as soon as Piper stopped to take a break, the rock reformed and its dents disappeared.

"If magic won't work…" She backed away from the wall, "Use sheer, brute, force!" Running at the cave wall, she massed out the second before she hit the stone, crashing through rock and landing on the other side, extremely pleased with herself.

Piper brushed off her pants before standing up, it was there she saw her enemy standing before her, the Nameless One looked as shocked as she was. Gesturing at the demon, Piper blew him up and the scattered pieces flew around one spot. The demon reformed just as the eldest Charmed One turned invisible; he ignited a fireball in his hand and looked around frantically for his attacker.

"You put someone's niece in a coma and this is how you're rewarded…" He heard a pebble hit off the floor and quickly turned around and launched the fireball in the direction he had heard the noise; he smirked when the fireball suddenly froze in midair, "Found you, witch!" He growled, walked over the space and snuffing the floating fireball

"Guess again, demon," Piper's voice came from the other side of the room as she revealed herself, "I'm surprised such a powerful demon fell for the old stone throwing trick. I guess strength isn't everything…" before he could respond, Piper clenched her teeth and held her hands out above the ground; the cave began to shake as the rocky floor shifted. The stone beneath the Nameless One's feet began to rise around him, it rose over him before joining at the top, Piper then brought her arms down swiftly and the stone coffin closed in on itself, before dropping down back into the earth, taking whatever was inside with it. Piper took deep breathes and clutched to her chest, she was so shocked at what she had just done; she was even more shocked when Paige appeared in a burst of red light.

"Piper! Do you know how many lairs I've astralled into? It's a lot! Where have you been?" The pregnant Halliwell put her hands on her hips.

"Why didn't you just orb?"

"And put my unborn children in danger? I don't think so, this way I could find you and stay safe, as I would return to my body when-,"

"Yeah, Paige, I know how astral projection works!" Her sister snapped, "But enough about that! I just vanquished the Nameless One!"

Paige was about to respond, but her eyes widened and she pointed at something, "Piper! Behind you!" the eldest turned round and saw the Nameless One leaning casually on the wall.

"Chronox! Work your magic!" He roared, a demon glimmered in, he had grey messy hair and wore a red cloak, he looked a lot like Tempus. The Nameless One threw a fireball at Paige, which caused her astral form to dissolve when the two made contact.

Chronox advanced on Piper, who was worn out from her battle and began to gesture wildly, but her freezing and exploding had no effect as the demon grabbed the sides of her head. That was the last thing she remembered before it all went dark…

* * *

The eldest Halliwell groaned as she woke up, a harsh light making her eyes sting and making her shut them tightly once more. She reopened them slowly, realized that the light was coming from a fluorescent light on the ceiling; Piper felt as if she was curled up and looked around, she had a blanket over her and was sleeping in the chair, it seemed to be a hospital room of some sort. She saw Pamela wired up to all different machines next to her and Emma, Phoebe, Brennan and Paige were talking outside, this was the present morning!

Piper lunged out of her chair and threw the blanket onto the floor, looking around with wide eyes and wondering how she had ended up in the past. She opened the door and walked out of the room, seeing what everyone seemed to be in an awful mood. Emma stormed off towards the bathroom, Paige went to go after her but Phoebe held up her hand,

"No, let her go. She needs to work through this by herself," She explained with a calm tone.

"Work through what?" The pregnant witch frowned.

Phoebe sighed, "The needless guilt she feels,"

"Um… Guys, I need to talk to you…" Piper began.

Phoebe looked at her watch, "Okay, I'm going to take Connor to work with me today, will you be home around… sevenish?" She looked at her husband.

"Maybe, I'm supposed to finish at six, but things are never certain around here. Eat without me if I'm not home,"

"Okay," She gave her husband a quick peck on the lips before going down the hallway and going into the bathroom. Paige walked towards her oldest sister and sighed,

"Can I come back to your place? I need to pick up some of my old stuff,"

"Okay, I need to talk to you about something anyway…"

* * *

"What are you looking for?" Paige stood in front of her frantic sister who was flipping through the Book of Shadows in the kitchen.

"A demon with the power over time…" She answered without looking up.

"I thought only one demon could go back go back in time, and that you vanquished him. And if he's put us in a time loop, how come you remember everything?"

Piper slammed her hands down on the pages, "I don't know!" She frowned and looked to the side, "Although I remember him touching my head before I woke up in the hospital… Maybe he threw my consciousness back in time instead of reversing it! Yeah! Demons can do that, right?"

"I'm still not sure if I believe you…" The witchlighter replied timidly.

"What? Paige, for once we have all the info! Why don't you believe me?"

"No offence honey, but you've been sorta scattered since we found out about Pamela last night… Maybe you-,"

"Dreamt the whole thing?" Piper uttered in disbelief, "You think I'm making up demons because I'm grieving?"

"Piper…"

"You want proof?" She pointed towards the kitchen door, "In a minute, Chris will come though that door and ask to play with Sandy,"

Sure enough, Chris came skidding though the door and halted at his Aunt, "Auntie Paige! Can I go plays with your doggy?"

Paige looked at Piper with a shocked expression then turned to her nephew, "Uh… Sure, just stay in the back yard where we can see you…" Chris beamed and ran out the back door with Sandy on his heels.

"Okay, I believe you, what do you need?" She said, her battle face now on.

"Ah hah! Found it!" Piper grinned at the book, "Let's see…"

Before she could scan the page, Piper felt a pulling sensation in her stomach and the world began to swirl around her. When it finally stopped, she was back in the hospital with Paige standing in front of her,

"Hello? Earth to Piper! Can I come to your place?" Paige waved her hand in her sister's face. Piper stomped her foot in annoyance and pushed the witchlighter's hand down,

"Get Phoebe then meet me back at the Manor. We've got work to do!" She stomped off down the corridor, leaving her baby sister completely lost…

* * *

Piper walked into the library at Magic School, the place was bustling with students who were getting ready for their return to school next week. The witch spotted Miss Donovan and jogged over to her.

"Miss Donovan! I need your help!" She slowed down as she came closer.

"Piper? What's the matter?" The librarian frowned.

"Could you get me everything you have on time demons?"

"Uh… Sure, but can I ask why?"

"Because one's screwing with my head,"

A couple of moments later, Miss Donovan came back with a couple of books and handed them to the Charmed One, "That's all I could find, everyone in your family always seems to find information on the elusive demons," She smiled.

Piper smiled wearily back before walking out of the library and making her way towards the door that would take her to the Manor. She opened it and the Manor stairway stood before her and her sisters were sitting in the living room. Piper walked through the door and it disappeared from the landing. She threw the books at Paige and Phoebe and sat down tiredly in the loveseat,

"So why did you call us here?" Phoebe asked as she maneuvered Connor to her other hip. Piper quickly explained the situation to her sister's and although Paige wasn't sure, Phoebe was, "So your consciousness gets put back every time you get close to figuring out who the demon is?"

Piper nodded, "So anything you find in those books, keep to yourself because I really don't want to go back again today…"

"Oh look, here's something…" Paige began as she began to read aloud from the book.

"No! Paige, don't!" but it was too late, the familiar feeling of her insides churning came back and when the world stopped spinning, she was standing in front of her sisters who were looking strangely at the books that she had just threw at them,

"So why did you call us here?" Phoebe asked as she maneuvered Connor to her other hip.

Piper groaned and rolled her eyes before flopping back into a chair,

"Isn't there a book on tape version of this explanation?"

* * *

Phoebe carefully let a drop of beetle toe fall into the potion she was making before it blew up, she laughed at the mushroom cloud of smoke that was rising, "It's been a while since I last did that!"

Piper frowned as she watched her sister's fascination with the smoke, "Didn't you practice magic where you were?"

The middle Charmed One shook her head, "Well, not as much, I was pregnant so most of the missions…" She trailed off and cringed.

"Missions? Were you working for the CIA or something?" Piper smirked, Phoebe pursed her lips.

"Something like that…" at that moment, Paige orbed in with a jar of something in her hand, "Oh, is that the ingredient we need?"

Paige snorted, "No, this is a jar of mussels!" The two older sisters pulled faces and turned away, "What? I'm in the craving stage, so sue me!"

"Tell me about it! I never want to eat another onion cookie again! Ugh…" Phoebe shook a little as if trying to shake off the memory.

"That's nothing!" Piper began, "If I see another pickle, hot fudge and mustard sandwich I will hurl!" The three girls laughed at the thought of all their disgusting cravings.

"Okay, potion's almost done," Phoebe stirred the mixture.

Piper covered her ears, "I don't want to hear another word!"

"Actually…" Phoebe began, "How about I fix your little time jumping problem?"

Piper narrowed her eyes, "Go on,"

"Okay, think of it this way, every time you go back, your consciousness goes along a road, well I could probably put in a little psychic roadblock, you up for it?"

* * *

Chronox stood over his crystal ball; he had been watching Piper through it and cursed himself, knowing that he could only throw her consciousness back if she began to unravel what he was all about. He frowned as the witch's sister began to release a pink glow her head and into Piper's, the vision on his crystal ball turned foggy and his sight over his victim disappeared.

"No!" He hissed, waving his hand over the globe again and again, trying to make it work.

"Looking for me?" A voice came from the shadows as Piper walked out of the darkness with her sisters behind her.

"The Charmed Ones… He hissed.

"Plus two!" Paige added, patting her large stomach.

Piper threw the potion at his feet, it made a hissing sound as it smashed on the ground and the demon was exposed to the magical smoke that rose from the liquid,

"For all the pain he has inflicted,

We use this spell for wrong to righted,"

Flames consumed the time demon before he blew up with a scream.

Phoebe smirked, "The Book said that that spell curses Chronox to relive his vanquish again and again for all of eternity…"

"It's what he deserves…" Piper snarled…

* * *

Piper shuffled into the kitchen with her white fluffy slippers making a sliding sound on the floor as she moved. She rubbed her eyes now and again, as she had just got up, seeing Emma at the island with a smirk, she cringed.

"Please tell me I'm not in the past again…" She groaned.

Emma raised her eyebrows, "Wow, I need to shake up my morning routine if you think that this is yesterday!"

"You know I didn't mean it like that!" She smirked, "Can I cook you anything?"

The psionic shook her head, "Nah… All I need is a microwavable croissant and a cup of coffee to start my day,"

It was Piper's turn to raise her eyebrows, "We must really be rubbing off on you if coffee is a vital part of your morning!"

They sat in silence for a while as Emma sipped on her coffee, "It's so quiet…" She mused.

"Mm…" Piper nodded, "I know, Pam was always the last one up and the last one down…"

"Last one up?" The psionic mulled it over then nodded, "Remember that time the police brought her home, stinking drunk, at three in the morning? You yelled at her, woke up Wyatt and Chris, then she threw up on your new rug and passed out on the floor…"

The eldest Halliwell let out a laugh and smiled, "She didn't get out of bed until four in the afternoon and even when she did, she spent the rest of the night in the bathroom hurling!"

Emma grinned, "Who would think we'd miss memories like that! We're lucky that we only got warnings for her being underage and out after curfew,"

"It's weird the things you miss…"

Emma held out both of her hands, Piper put her own in them, "We'll get through this, and so will Pam… She's a fighter,"

She nodded weakly before Emma slipped off the barstool and headed towards the door, "Where are you going?"

"I have stuff to do at work before the students come back next week, that husband of yours is a slave driver!" She smiled and walked out of the door, leaving Piper to find our own strength…

* * *

**NEXT TIME:** Phoebe is worried about Connor not having any power from her side of the family. Emma almost runs over a young boy with the extraordinary ability to talk to animals, but why are there demons after him? Leo struggles at sort everything out at Magic School and Pamela's condition remains unchanged.

Chapter 10 **"Little Dolittle"** will be up soon!


	10. Little Dolittle

**I know I'm being horrible but I'll catch upon my reviews next chapter! Sorry!**

**Little Dolittle**

Emma ran out of the pizza place carrying two large pizza boxes over her head to shelter her from the rain, she ran across the sloping road and yanked her keys from her pocket, pressing the button and watching her car's lights flash, telling her that it was unlocked. She pulled the door open and dumped the pizza boxes in the passenger seat as she shook her head from side to side, trying to get rid of the water,

"Only in San Francisco can you get pizza at two a.m.…" Emma muttered, turning the key in the ignition and bringing her car to life. She quickly punched in the number for home into her cell phone, which was sitting in the hands free device. The psionic rolled her eyes as the answering machine message played,

"Hi," Piper's voice came through, "We're either not here, too lazy to get the phone, or we're screening. Leave a message," The beep then sounded and Emma rolled her eyes again,

"C'mon Piper, I know you screen after midnight, but who else would be calling you at this time except from you nighttime pizza delivery girl?" She smirked when she heard the click on the other line,

"You can never be too careful," Piper said.

"Uh huh, listen, I'll be home in about ten minutes go these things might need reheating when I get back,"

"Ten minutes? Why so long? Dropping in for a booty call with your boyfriend?" Although she couldn't see her, Emma knew her friend was smiling.

"Very funny, if you haven't noticed there's a storm. The entire city's flooded, the wind is pushing me all over the road and the thunder and lightning keeps making me jump!" She flinched as the sky lit up for a brief second and a booming crash rumbled in the sky.

"Okay, just get back here! Unless there's traffic?"

"No, not many people are having their dinner this late, the streets are-," She suddenly saw a boy run out in front of her car. Emma slammed down on the brakes as fast as her reflexes would allow and managed to stop right in front of the child, who was stunned by the fear of being run over, "Oh my God!"

"Emma? Are you okay? I heard tires screeching," The Charmed One asked over the phone.

She was about to answer, than an energy ball flew out of the alleyway to the left and struck the boy on the shoulder. Emma looked over and even through her rain covered windows she could see two demons advancing on the innocent "Uh… Piper, I'll call you back," she pressed the hang up button and hastily opened her door, stepping out onto the hilled road and into the wind.

"Hey!" She yelled, swatting her hair out of her face, which was a constant struggle was the howling wind was against her. The demons bared their dirty teeth at her and threw two energy balls. Emma quickly activated her telempathy and made the energy balls fly around her and zip back to their masters, hitting them in the chest and vanquishing them. With no time to check, she quickly helped the boy up and helped him into the back seat of her car, before getting back in the drivers seat and shaking the water off her wet again hair,

"This is going to take longer than ten minutes…"

* * *

Phoebe looked over her slumbering son in fascination as his tiny chest moved up and down with his breathing. Lightning crashed outside, making the middle Halliwell jump with fright, she was thankful that Connor hadn't stirred. Brennan crept into the baby's room, setting the baby monitor down on the chest of drawers at the door and walking up behind his wife, putting his arms around her waist and kissing her on the cheek. She leaned her head back on his chest and sighed,

"I though your shift ended at midnight," She whispered.

"It was supposed to, but then we got a ton of bus crash victims and I had to help. But I have the day off tomorrow, what do you want to do?"

"Mm… Nothing, I just want to sit in the house and do… nothing," She retreated into his arms even more, "I'm so tired… Connor's been up for most of the night,"

Her husband frowned, "He looks pretty calm to me,"

"Yeah, he stopped crying when the storm began. Oddly, it seemed to calm him down,"

Brennan let out a chuckle, "Well, he is the Child Of Storms, he probably feels better in his magical environment,"

"And would that be your family?" She said with a slightly raised voice.

"What?" Phoebe turned around, still in Brennan's arms.

"It's just that… Everyone can tell that Connor is your son, hair colour, eye colour, even powers! It's as if he's completely made out of you and none of me… Okay, that was a little gross, what I mean is that he's hasn't got anything from me…"

Brennan kissed her forehead, "Look, he is your son, he is our son. No matter what he looks like and what his powers are, he's ours, no matter what anyone says. Besides, your powers are a still less… visible than mine, he could have them and we don't know it,"

Phoebe smiled half heartedly, "I guess… How are you so good at these little talks?"

He grinned, "From having three sisters who were constantly going through something at one time or another!" He pulled her into a hug, both of them felt as if they could fall asleep right there on their feet,

"Oh…" Phoebe groaned, "Before I forget, your Mom called, she wants us to go up next week so she can meet her grandson, can you get the time off?"

"Hmm… Yeah, I think after all the times I've stayed behind after my shift is over, I deserve it," He took her hand and pulled her towards the door, "C'mon, I think we both need sleep…"

Phoebe nodded wearily as he pulled her out of the room, picked up the baby monitor on the way out, with a doubtful look at her son before leaving…

* * *

Paige hadn't been able to sleep ever since the storm had began, the dim glow of a small lamp on the coffee table lit up the main area of the apartment. She looked out of the large window towards the Bay, jumping a little when lightning flew across the skyline. Rain battered the pane and Paige watched the street lamps sway in the wind below. The apartment was on the corner of one of the many hills in San Francisco, so the youngest Charmed One got a good view of the city and could see the Golden Gate Bridge in the distance.

She touched the window and clenched her eyes together, it was times like this when she missed him the most, she would even pretend that she could feel his arms around her waist, that she could feel his breath on the back of her neck, and that she could smell his aftershave. She would even pretend that she could lean back into his chest, but her daydream always ended abruptly she fell roughly into the seat behind her, making her feel even more heartbroken than before.

Paige frowned as she felt something digging into her back, reaching around behind the cushion; she wrapped her hand around a cube shaped object and pulled it out to her eyes, gasping when she saw the velvet box in her hand. She bit her lip and went to open it, but pulled her hand back when thunder startled her. She let out a snort of laughter at her fright and opened it, but she wished she hadn't.

It was a diamond engagement ring.

The witchlighter's eyes widened as she took out a piece of paper that had been folded up into a small package. When she opened it out, it was covered in scribbles, as if someone had been crossing out what they had written, but there was a paragraph at the bottom that hadn't been crossed out, it was Aidan's handwriting.

_Paige,_

_If you're reading this, you've probably found the engagement ring, even though I've told you to stay away from my chair! But it was that defiance and stubbornness that made me fall in love with you in the first place, in fact, I love everything about you. When you laugh, when you get mad, and even you shut the curtains with your powers in the morning when you don't want to get up. You are the best thing that has happened in my life and I never want to be without you. Paige…_

_Will you marry me?_

Those four simple words sent Paige's heart shattering into a thousand pieces for the second time in four months, and looking at the date at the top of the page, he had wrote this just before she had slept with Hades. But even through her sadness and thoughts of what would have been, Paige found extreme happiness in the fact that she could feel her children's joy at any fragment of Aidan left.

Aidan, the love of her life, was the father of her children. She knew it, as only a mother could…

* * *

"Piper!" Emma shouted as she opened the front door carrying pizza boxes and the young boy walking behind her with a napkin on his wounded shoulder,

"In here!" Piper's voice came from the kitchen.

"You go sit in there and I'll be right back," She put her hand delicately on his shoulder and he went into the living room while she walked towards the kitchen. Piper stood at the island with Leo with a hungry grin on her face,

"What did you get me?" She licked her lips.

"Oh, one pepperoni…" She opened a box, "One ham and cheese…" She opened the second box, "And one innocent," She pointed out of the kitchen door.

Piper's shoulders dropped, "You found an innocent at two a.m. while picking up pizza? That's it, next time we're getting it delivered," She hit her hands off the surface.

"Is he hurt? Piper said that she heard your car screeching before you hung up,"

"Yeah, I had to kill two demons, in the street I might add! The kid just ran out in front of my car, which, might I say, was almost destroyed by an energy ball!" She looked at Piper and Leo, who were giving her a strange look, "Oh, yeah, he's hurt, but it's just a graze, nothing to worry about,"

"Did anyone see you vanquish the demons?" Piper asked fretfully

Emma snorted, "The weather's hell, someone standing right next to me wouldn't have been able to see because to the rain. Besides, I used my telempathy so no one would have caught me doing anything magical, they would just think that I was extremely lucky for those energy balls to veer round me…"

"Okay, I'll go get him…" Leo went to leave the room, but she stopped him,

"I'll get him, it's probably best if we don't expose him to too many new faces," She went into the dining room.

Piper placed her head in her hands, "Chinese… We should have gotten Chinese food…"

* * *

At a more respectable hour, Emma got to work on their innocent. They had set crystals around him in the night to protect him from any demons that might attack while they were sleeping. Piper had gone to P3 to confirm an amateur band that was playing that night. The eldest Halliwell had given them they're big break, and their music was good, so it all worked out.

She came into the living room, the boy hadn't moved all night and had only changed positions to sleep and take the glass of water that Emma had gave him, he didn't even look surprised when Leo healed his shoulder.

"So…" Emma sat down in front of him and gave him a warm smile, "You want to tell me why those people were after you?" He cleared his throat and said nothing, "Wow… I don't know how many kids can stay silent for so long,"

He took another sip of water, "I'm putting you in danger by just being here, I need to go. And those weren't people, they were-,"

"Demons." Emma finished flatly before igniting a psionic blast above her head, "Yeah, you're not the only one with a gift," She retracted the globe so she didn't scare him.

"What are you?" he breathed.

"A witch… sorta, what are you?"

He gulped, "I'm… normal," nodding his head furiously.

Emma sighed, "Well, if you won't tell me what your power is, can you at least tell me your name?"

He hesitated for a moment, "It's Lewis… My name's Lewis,"

She smiled at him. It was a start.

The doorbell rang and the door opened, "Anyone home?" Paige's voice came through.

"In here!" Emma shouted back, "Why did you bother to knock when you just decided to come in?"

Paige blinked at her, "Piper said you needed help?"

Emma smirked at her dodge of question, but before she could answer, four demons smoked into the sunroom behind her. Each of them held a silver athame in their hands and a tattoo of a flaming devil's wing on their biceps.

"Emma, get down!" Paige yelled, her friend ducked down as the witchlighter made a sweeping gesture with her arms, sending two demons one way and the other two the opposite direction. Emma got back up and turned to the teen,

"Stay in the crystals and you'll be fine," She assured him before going after the two demons that had landed in the living room while Paige went after the others. As soon as she entered the room, Emma had to duck out of the path of a flying athame that impaled itself on the wall, she decided to leave it in case the demons got away and she would have something to scry with, "You're gonna need to do better than that boys!" She taunted them.

"Give us the feraltongue!" One of them roared, sending an energy ball at the psionic.

"Feraltongue?" She ducked again, firing a psionic blast at her attacker and sending him into the wall and smashing a plant pot, Emma cringed when she realized Piper would flip. She heard a scream in the next room and looked on as an energy ball bounced off Paige's baby's shield and killed the demon who had thrown it.

"Now that's an easy vanquish!" Paige marveled at her stomach.

The rest of the demons smoked out wisely, as they didn't want to incur the wrath of the witch's unborn children.

Emma cursed and went to pull the athame out of the wall, "Well…" She grunted as the dagger came loose, "Let's go hunting…"

* * *

The three remaining demons shimmered into their hideout, one of them spat out a curse as he paced around the room, "We're never going to get our hands on him with the witches in our way!" She continued to pace and curse loudly.

"We can't give up, we need those scrolls before the Nameless One takes complete control of the Underworld or we'll need to bow down to some no name demon!"

The cursing demon growled and turned to his comrade, "If we try to get past the guard, it will kill us; we need the boy for this to work!"

"Stop it, both of you! Why do you think I left my athame there? I have a plan," He said proudly, the other two rolled their eyes, "Think about it, all we need to do is stay near the door to the scroll chamber, and when the witches come after us…" His partners began to catch on.

One of them grinned, "It's a win win situation! If they kill it, we can get in easily without the brat, and if it kills them, there's no one to stop us from taking the kid!"

The cursing one grinned and put an arm around the one who had though of the idea, "That's why you're the brains of the group!"

* * *

Phoebe smiled at her son who was wriggling and crawling around on her and Brennan's bed. The family had been spending the stormy day in doors as both adults had managed to get a day off in order to spend some time with each other. The middle Charmed One sat next to her husband as they leaned against the headboard, keeping vigilant eyes on their son to make sure he didn't fall off the bed as he explored.

"This beats helping old drunks with glass in their hands any day!" Brennan laughed and pulled Phoebe closer with the arm he had around her shoulders.

She grinned, "It feels great to take a break from wading through people's problems and worries… No, sweetie," Phoebe smiled as she lifted Connor back to them before he went off the side of the bed; he giggled and began to explore again.

"I can't believe how much he loves to move around and explore… He has more energy than any kid I've ever seen," She marveled at her child's stamina.

"Yeah, he's gonna love it up at my Mom's next week!" Brennan replied.

"Are you kidding? Tons of kids, doting new aunts to meet, he'll never want to leave! Connor?" Phoebe's eyes widened as her son went over the edge of the bed, but instead of falling to floor, he continued to crawl in mid air!

"Well, he certainly doesn't get that power from me. Now do you believe me about him being your son?" Brennan kissed her head before Phoebe jumped off the bed and picked up her hovering son and nuzzled his face with her nose,

"Was my little boy levitating? Yes he was! Oh yes he was!" Her son laughed and smiled she held him with the same type of grin on her face.

Her cell began to ring on the nightstand and Phoebe set Connor back down on the bed, he immediately crawled over to his father who picked him up and bounced him up and down in his arms.

"Hello," Phoebe flipped open her phone, "Hey Emma…" The psionic's face fell after hearing what her friend had to say, "No! You're kidding! Ugh… I'll be there in about fifteen minutes," She snapped the cell shut and turned to Brennan, "I'll be back in a little while, okay?" Phoebe leaned over and kissed her husband before walking into the bathroom to get changed out of her pajamas…

* * *

Piper stared at Lewis as he sat with Paige's dog Sandy next to him; he was having a full blown conversation with the animal! And what was even stranger was that the dog seemed to be responding to everything Lewis was saying. Emma walked up behind her and smirked,

"The book says that feraltongues can't talk to all animals, they only have one specific species they can converse with. It seems to be dogs in Lewis's case,"

"Did you find the demons in the Book?" She asked.

Emma nodded, "Oddly, they're lower level, it seems pretty stupid to attack while Paige is here considering she's invincible at the moment. Phoebe's on her way, I'll start scrying," She walked back into the kitchen just as Phoebe walked in the front door,

"Alright, I'm missing quality time with my husband and my baby's new power let's get this over with,"

"Phoebe!" Piper scolded as she brought her into the kitchen to where Emma and Paige were, "Show a little tact! Our innocent is a kid for Gods sake!"

"You're right, I'm sorry, I just…. Want to spend some uninterrupted time with my family, is that too much to ask?"

"Right now, yes, but the sooner you stop moaning, the sooner we get this over with…"

As Piper finished her sentence, the crystal that Emma had been spinning dropped down,

"Got them," She announced.

"Okay, you stay here and look after Lewis and we'll go kick some demon ass," Piper gestured for her sisters to come closer and Paige orbed them out to the location…

* * *

The momentary light of orbs lit up the dark cavern. The Charmed Ones couldn't see a thing as they looked around in the darkness. None of them dared to move in case they landed in a trap or worse.

"Okay, this is weird…" Phoebe looked around the black that she could see.

"Quiet. Do you guys hear that?" Paige shushed them.

They all fell silent as they listened for anything, "It's like growling…" Piper frowned.

Suddenly the cavern was filled with light and the sisters saw where the noise was coming from. A giant three headed dog, probably around five times the height of a human, was looking down at them and snarling with bared teeth, all three woman had one head watching them intently as they backed away,

"Nice… Doggy," Paige squeaked.

"Anyone got a really big box of biscuits?" Phoebe cringed as the dog began to advance.

All three heads barked at the same time, making the large cave shake and bringing down some of the stones from the tall ceiling,

"I'll take care of this…" Piper said confidently, "Paige, get ready to orb us out of here…" She scrunched her face up and fired an orange light from her palms at one of the beast's massive paws. The ground underneath it crumbled, causing the monster to loose its balance and letting Piper ran back to her sisters.

"Orb! Now!" She said urgently, Paige didn't need to be told twice as they disappeared in a swathe of lights…

* * *

When the three of them reappeared, they saw that Lewis was gone and that there were scorch marks on the living room wall. Paige gasped when she saw Emma lying on the ground with an athame in her gut; she knelt down and pulled the weapon out before quickly healing her with a light from her hands.

She came to with a gasp, "They took Lewis!" She said immediately.

"Yeah, and they tricked us…" Paige helped her friend up, "Are you good at breeds of dog?"

* * *

"Oh my God…" Emma breathed as she sat at the table with the Book of Shadows while the other's made a batch of vanquishing potion, "You guys were lucky to get out of there alive!"

"What? Please, I could have taken that genetic freak in a second!" Piper scoffed.

Phoebe watched for Emma's reaction to the "genetic freak" comment, it was small, but it had been there, "Are you sure? Because I don't think even the Charmed Ones are a match for the ten thousand year old guardian to the gates of Hell…"

"S'cuse me?" Paige's eyes widened.

"Cerberus," Emma said simply, "For as long as time can tell, this three headed canine guardian has watched over and protected the entrance of the tomb where ancient scrolls are kept. These scrolls are supposed to hold the secrets and knowledge to all the world's evil," She stopped reading from the book.

"So it really is just a Greek myth? About him being the guardian of the Hell?" Phoebe frowned.

Emma shook her head, "Think about it, if a demon was to get its hands on these scrolls, it would be hell on earth, they belong behind Cerberus, that's what I think,"

"So Cerberus is actually good?" Paige raised her eyebrows.

"Yeah, he's been the protector of these things since the beginning of time, bred to kill anyone who enters his domain. He can't tell the difference between good and evil, all he knows is that he needs to protect the scrolls,"

"Okay, we need to get back there before Lewis opens the lines of conversation with that pup…"

* * *

The Charmed Ones and Emma orbed back into the crypt of see Lewis standing confidently in front of Cerberus while the demons stood at the back. The witches are shocked when the giant dog grunted and moved to the side, revealing two large irons doors which would give these pathetic demons ultimate power.

"No!" Emma screamed, throwing out a potion and blasting one of the demons across the room. The others conjured energy balls and threw them at the intruderswhile Cerberus began to stir, "Lewis! Order him to attack the demons!" Emma shouted a the scared teen as the Charmed Ones did battle with the demons, "You have to! You know what will happen if you don't!" She had to duck from the path of an energy ball as Paige's orb shield lit up the dark cave, "PLEASE!" She pleaded, before joining the fight.

Lewis hesitated for a moment, before frowning and pointing at the demons, "ATTACK!" He yelled, Cerberus immediately leaped into action, which was an amazing sight to see. He jumped into the air, landing on one of the demons and crushing him with his paws, he then lifted his massive claw, making the Charmed Ones ran from the firing line as he swatted the demon into the wall with ease.

"NO!" The final demon screamed, as the middle head lowered and lifted him up in his mouth before swallowing him.

"Now that's what I call a high protein diet…" Phoebe whispered.

Cerberus snorted and trotted back to his ever vigilant post in front of the doors, he sat down with all three heads held high, until one lowered. He witches began to shout as they thought he was going to eat Lewis, but breathed a sigh of relief when they saw the feraltongue stroking the docile beast.

"Aw…" Paige began, "If it wasn't for the fangs and the three heads, he's be just as cute as Sandy…"

* * *

**NEXT TIME:** Phoebe and Brennan arrive at Julie's to find that Nelle went out on a demon patrol one morning and never came back, the middle Charmed One makes it her mission to find her sister in law. Emma encounters a misbehaving student in her class and Paige enters the final stage of letting go of Aidan, acceptance.

Chapter 11 **"Hole In One" **will be up soon!


	11. Hole In One

Ravenix – It's okay, I've been busy as well, that's why I haven't been updating this as quickly as usual! And I don't know if Lewis will return!

Aniaka – Heh… Doesn't Piper just suit the "I told you so," really well? Of course she would have enjoyed it, being the oldest it would have been a challenge for her! I know, I though I needed something cute instead of him screaming and raising shields all the time! (PS: Thanks for your support, everything's going awol at the moment and it makes me feel good to know that I'm bringing some happiness into people's lives)

Phoebe turner – (Holds hands up) I didn't promise anything! But don't give up hope and be patient!

Prince Halliwell – Lol, I though I would put I bit of normality in it! Thanks, I think feraltongue was a god name for him! And yes, they're Aidan's, and she might have found it, but we both know that Paige doesn't exactly do housework and snoop around everything trying to clean it ;)

Piperfairy – Well, she can't wait for him to come back, she needs to move on. And the nest chapter will reveal more about the annoying demon lol! Thanks! I'm so glad you like them as a couple! That's how all this began, me thinking they were a good couple!

Princess Pinky – Ugh… FFN can be so annoying sometimes! Lol, I was playing the pizza scene out in my head as I wrote it! You miss Pam, huh? Don't worry ;) LOL! I always get strange looks on the bus, mainly because I sing out of key to the songs in my MP3 player!

Unique deflection – Phew… I though I might have offended you or something, but I'm glad I could help! And Connor will get some of his mother's powers, but since he's a male, he's more likely to have powers from Brennan. And the twins are being born VERY soon! It's not going to be as dragged out as Phoebe's pregnancy!

Peanut2lb – I know you reviewed half way through the last story, but I thought I'd reply here! I hope you can understand Princess Pinky's crossover better now, and Prue/Andy are amazing! It's amazing that the writers made such an adored couple within only one season! I hope you keep reading my work! I'm halfway through "Charmed in the Afterlife" right now!

**Hole In One**

"Are you sure it's okay that we go?" moved a suitcase into the pile that was next to her and Brennan. Connor sat in his fathers arms silently as he watched his Aunt Piper and Uncle Leo smirked at his mother.

"Phoebe, we survived without you for a year and a half, we can get through a week without your endless power and infinite wisdom…" Piper mocked.

The middle sister smiled wryly, "Very funny, just make sure you call me if you need me…" Piper rolled her eyes, "Okay, we'll get out of your face get on our way…"

"See what I have to live with?" Brennan added with a wink as Phoebe came back down from Connor's nursery holding a cuddly dinosaur, "It's his favourite!" She beamed and handed it to her son; he took it and waved it about wildly.

"Okay, ready!" She huddled with her family and Leo made a gesture at them, making the Mulwrays disappear in a swirl of orbs. Piper put a deep breath looked around her sister's house, smiling at the swirling grand fixtures that went along the rim of the ceiling.

"What's wrong?" Leo asked her, knowing that something was bothering her.

Piper put her hands in her pockets and turned around, "Do you ever think about us getting a place like this?"

"What? Don't you like living in the Manor?" Leo frowned.

"No, of course I do. I love being to close to Emma and Pamela, having two… well, one babysitter in the house helps," The Elder smiled at her, "But I sometimes think that we've never really moved on! Paige and Phoebe have moved out and fell in love, and even though it went pear shaped for Paige, I still admire her in some way…"

"Well…" Leo walked closer to her, "You are the oldest sister, and you were the first one to have a child. Your sisters just think of the house as yours," He explained.

"I know… Anyway, I'm going to Paige's, you coming?" She asked.

"No, I have to go talk to the other Elders, they're sensing something on the horizon," he replied.

"Ugh… If it's something on top of the Nameless One, then I'm going to have a breakdown," Piper groaned as she leaned her forehead on his chest, "Okay, orb me home before you go, I'm driving to Paige's then we're going to see Pam,"

Leo backed away and gestured at his wife, she smiled before she orbed out, Leo following suit…

* * *

Allison Mulwray, better known as Ally, walked out of the laundry and made her way back to the kitchen, glancing at the playing children in the living room before continuing towards the kitchen. She gasped when orbs began to fill the air in front of her, raising her hands instinctively to attack, a jet of water flew from her palm as Phoebe and Brennan materialized. Brennan quickly put up a disc of impenetrable energy, letting the water bounce off it and disappear as soon as it hit the floor.

"You a little edgy, sis? You almost drowned your nephew!" Brennan exclaimed.

Ally put her hands over her mouth before running them through her hair, "Oh my God! I'm sorry, you guys! I've just been a little jumpy lately," She explained before breaking out into a massive grin, "Is this the little boy I've been hearing so much about?"

"Yeah," Brennan jiggled his son while he was balanced on his hip, "This is Connor,"

Ally raised her eyebrows as she took her nephew from his father, "Connor, huh? Aptly named if I say so myself. Hey," She touched his nose delicately.

"Where's Mom?"

"Upstairs getting your rooms ready, she's been doing anything to get her mind off the fact that Nelle's missing,"

"She's missing?" Phoebe frowned, she didn't mean to play favourites, but Nelle was the Mulwray sister that she had bonded with the most last time she was here.

"Yeah…" Ally began with a low voice, "She went on a demon patrol yesterday morning and hasn't came back. Sandra is leading some people around, trying to find her,"

"Is it possible she's just stayed out?"

"No. Firstly, Nelle always comes back before lunch if she doesn't, she contacts us. Neither thing has happened,"

A tornado began to appear next to Ally and Sandra appeared within it, her hair was askew and she stumbled slightly before regaining her balance, "Hey! Damn, I love this new power!" She said triumphantly.

"But you didn't find her…" Ally pointed out to her little sister.

"Well… No, but I did cover a lot of ground in a small amount of time so we will!" Sandra noticed the six month old child in her sister's arms, "Did someone leave him on our doorstep?"

"Yes, they also left themselves and some luggage!" Ally grabbed her sister's chin and turned her head towards Brennan and Phoebe.

"Oh! Hey guys! Sorry, I forgot you were coming! This must be my new nephew!" She said in a baby voice while tickling Connor.

Phoebe tapped her husband on the shoulder, "I'll leave you to it." She kissed him on the cheek and picked up her own suitcase, and slowly began to climb the stairs…

* * *

Paige folded a pair of jeans that had faded knees and put them in the pile of jeans that sitting on her bed. The entire bed was covered with different mounds of clothes, t-shirts, boxers, socks, sweaters, there were only a couple pairs of shoes, Aidan had never felt the need for lots of shoes. A buzzing came from the living room, telling Paige that someone was at her door, "It's open!" She hollered, the witchlighter heard the door open,

"Paige?" Pier's voice called out.

"In here!" The youngest sister shouted back.

The eldest Charmed One smiled politely as she saw all of the clothes laid out on the bed, "Honey, what are you doing?"

"Oh, just packing up Aidan's stuff," Paige replied as she folded a t-shirt.

"Why?"

"Well, I have two children on the way and I'm going to need all the space I can get. I can put all this stuff in a storage place and he can get it if he wants without bothering me…"

Piper raised her eyebrows and smiled, "Wow… How mature of you,"

Paige narrowed, "Look, I'm not going to be one of those clingy people who _smell_ their ex's clothes and I'm definitely not gonna be one of those vindictive people to _burn_ their ex's clothes. This way, I get more space, I move on with my life, and I'm not a psycho ex-girlfriend," She counted these points off with her fingers.

"Speaking of my nieces…" Piper caught a quick touch before Paige slapped her hand away, "Where are they sleeping?"

"In the bedroom next to this one. It's about the same size and I have a guy coming over later in the week to see about extending it."

"Paige, you shouldn't be doing this! Let me and Phoebe take care of these details, you should be resting,"

"Excuse me Missy," Paige began in a matter of fact tone, "But aren't you the one who wanted to stay in action when she was pregnant?"

The witch blinked a few times, "Yeah, well… That was a different!"

"How?" The youngest sister smirked.

"Be-be-because… You are carrying two children and you are vulnerable," She replied.

Paige rolled her eyes, "Why? Because I live alone?"

"That's part of it, but Paige, I don't think there has ever been Wiccan twins in the world. You're carrying pioneers,"

"Oh please, you make it sound as if I'm away to find an undiscovered country!" She sighed and put another pair of socks on the bed, "C'mon, let's go see that snoozing niece of ours…" She picked up her purse from under a mound of men's clothes and tapped her sitting sister on the shoulder.

"Me and Emma are going shopping after school finishes, you wanna come?" Paige asked.

"I dunno…" Piper hesitated.

"C'mon Piper! I need you there! We're going… maternity clothes shopping," The youngest said with a sneer.

The mother of two beamed and laughed, "You getting maternity clothes? I'd fight with the Nameless One to see that!"

As if she got her wish, there were three glows in the living room and three demons appeared. Piper shoved her sister to the floor and made a gesture at one of them, making it explode in a flurry of fire and particles. Paige sat up and blew a strand of hair from her face in annoyance before standing up.

"For God's sake! Steak knife!" A steak knife orbed out from its holder in kitchen within a swaddle of orbs, flying at the back of one of the demons and impaling him, causing a fiery vanquish. Piper grabbed Paige's hand and massed out, letting the recently thrown energy ball bounce off the two witches and vanquish its master.

"What the hell was that about?" Paige straightened out her top.

Piper growled, "Paige, you are carrying two thrice blessed children! Part witch, part whitelighter, part elemental. A lot of demons will want to stop their birth,"

Paige surveyed the previous battle scene with a worried glance, thinking of how many more demons she would have to kill for her daughters… no, her_ family_, to be safe…

* * *

Emma took a deep breath before entering the final class of the day. With the New Year, came new freshmen, and even though she was the one who decided what classes the potions teachers took, she always ended up with one amazing senior class and one horrible freshman class filled with horrible students.

She opened the door forcefully and put on a face as hard as stone. The class was already out of control, jumping up on desks and trying to open the magically sealed windows, while poking and prodding at the strange ingredients that were in the many jars dotted around the room,

"ALRIGHT! SIT DOWN!" Emma boomed, everyone's head whipped round and saw that the head of potions was now here. They quickly sat down, but the psionic knew it wouldn't stay like that for long. Over the years, Emma had developed a power of intuition; it came in handy as she was able to duck before a potion hit her on the back of head. It hit the blackboard, leaving a large scorch mark, that potion could have seriously hurt her! She spun around on the spot, anger flaming in eyes, "Whoever did that, fess up, NOW!"

She stared into the sea of faces; all freshmen had heard the stories about Emma from the older students, that she would immediately know if you lied to her and if you didn't confess to your wrong doing, she would _find _out.

"That's a shame, because honesty really is the best policy in my class," She narrowed her eyes and began to use her power, she frowned when everyone in the class seemed innocent, but then she noticed something odd about a tough looking kid that was chewing gum. She was getting nothing from him, the rest of the students were confused and bewildered, but she couldn't read this guy for some reason, "What's your name?"

He snorted, "Like I'm gonna tell you…"

Again, she got nothing, "Tell me." She said in a low voice.

The teen rolled his eyes, "Why? Whoever threw that potion knew it wouldn't hurt you. You're a ghost, why do you care?"

Emma's eyes widened. How did he know her secret? Even Leo, her boss, hadn't known until last year, yet this boy that had been in her class for two weeks had figured it out. Luckily, she came prepared for this class. Pulling out a vial of white liquid while the class waited for their teacher to respond, she threw it to the floor in the centre of the room, a white gas spread through out the students and all of them froze.

The psionic walked towards the troublesome student and searched his pockets while he was frozen. Emma found an ID card and frowned that the name, "Evan Lockhart?" She mulled it over before shaking her head, "Zach's little brother…" Emma growled as she looked in his other pocket, finding a vial filled to the halfway point with a reddish orange liquid, it was as if he had drank some of it. At first, to Emma that it was an empath blocking potion, but that wouldn't protect him from her power, she knew immediately what it was after taking out the cork and smelling its stench, it was a telempath blocking potion.

"Oh Principal Wyatt!" Emma called with a sarcastic tone and a scowl. Leo appeared next to her in a cloud of orbs and looked around the very still students.

"Um… Emma? Care to explain?" He gestured at the classmates.

"If you care to explain how a freshman got his hands on this!" She put the potion into his hand, "It's a telempath blocking potion, and I froze the class after someone threw a very explosive potion at my back!" She pointed at the scorch mark on the blackboard.

"Oh my God, are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Psychic intuition really helps when that sort of thing happens, Leo, that potion could have killed me; if I hadn't ducked the contents of my head would be dripping off the wall! By the way…" She gave him the ID card, "Looks like our Zach has a nice younger sibling,"

Leo looked at the troublesome teen then at the blackboard, "Maybe we should bring the person who knows all about him then?"

* * *

"So you haven't been missing much at school," Paige said to her sleeping niece, "Besides, you'd probably learn more just by spending time with your aunties!" She grinned, "Which we'll be doing a lot more of when you pull out of this…" The witchlighter took Pamela's hand, "Please wake up soon, I don't want my children to born into a world without their big cousin to protect them…"

Piper came back from the window that she had been opening slightly to let some air into the stale room, she had also pulled up the blind so the afternoon sun could burst in, "Wyatt keeps asking if he can have your room, but he also keeps asking when you're coming back. I don't think he knows what he wants!" Piper smiled as she sat to the other side of Pamela.

Still nothing stirred, her chest continued to rise and fall with her breaths and nothing flickered underneath her eyelids.

"It's good to talk to her like that…" The doctor said as he stood at the door, "It's been proven to increase brain activity in coma patients," He explained.

"What are her chances?" Piper asked with a grim face.

"Well, because of her age and impeccable health record, her chances of pulling through are good. This may sound silly, but Pamela's lucky that this happened at this stage of her life, an older patient would have a far slimmer rate of survival… Visiting hours are over in ten minutes," He said solemnly before moving on.

Piper stood up and did a little arranging with the vase of flowers and moved one of the cards that was sitting on the nightstand so that Pamela would be able to see it if she woke up.

"C'mon, let's go…" Piper whispered to her sister, walking out the door with Paige close behind.

Paige suddenly gasped and grabbed Piper's shoulder, spinning her around so she could see that her eyes had went completely white, "Aunt Piper! Help me!" Paige cried out, before her eyes turned back to normal and she stumbled back.

The eldest Charmed One stared at her sister in disbelief, what had just happened? Deciding to worry about it later, she helped Paige through the door and left…

* * *

Although it couldn't be seen by the witches that had just left, a white cloud of light hovered in the air before lowering and taking on the form of Pamela!

"Dammit!" She growled, staring at her lifeless body in the hospital bed. Although she was standing there, no one could see or hear her at all, she slumped into the chair next to her bed, cursing at the fact that she was stuck in a hospital gown while she tried to make contact with her family.

"The unborn children overrode your control over Paige, that's why you didn't stay in control for so long,"

Pamela looked at who had said that, her heart skipping a beat when she saw her biological mother leaning against the doorframe. The teen got up and growled at the deceased Charmed One who stood casually at the door,

"Hmm… I don't know what's worse, the fact that I'm facing a lonely eternity wearing a hospital gown, or the fact that my deadbeat of a mother has popped in to say hi…" She snarled.

"I'd say the first one is worse," Prue nodded towards her daughter's body in the bed.

"I can take care of myself…" She rolled her eyes.

Prue let out a laugh, "Yeah, that's what I used to believe, and look where I ended up."

Pamela narrowed her eyes, "I've been taking care of myself and those around me my entire life, and I've been doing just fine,"

"Look, sweetie-,"

"Sweetie? You can't call the daughter that you abandoned and gave a crap of a life to "sweetie"… What are you doing here anyway? Shouldn't you be enjoying your happy little afterlife?"

"I came down here to help my daughter," Pamela cringed at her mother's word usage," Pam, whether you believe it or not, giving you up was the biggest regret of my life. I may not know you too well but I love you more than anything and if I need to spend eternity here with you, then that's what I'll do,"

"So you're here to help me?"

"I'm not leaving until that Pam…" She pointed at the sleeping Pamela, "Is awake,"

The Halliwell teen sighed and rolled her eyes, pacing around the four walls that she was trapped in. Whipping around to face her mother, she began another bombardment of questions, "Why couldn't I possess Aunt Paige? Ghosts can do that and I'm a witch with the power of possession, I should have double the chance of keeping in control!"

"Actually it's because you're a witch that makes it worse…"

"Wow… Another bad thing to come from you, don't you ever get tired of ruining my life?"

"Two witch souls can't inhabit the same body," Prue continued, ignoring her daughter's venomous comment, "Their magic is at a constant war with each other until one is ejected, in this case-,"

"Shut up!" Pamela screamed, tears beginning to form in her eyes, "I don't need your help! Where were you when I was eight and a demon broke my leg by throwing me across a street? Where were you when school was a living hell? Where were you when I began to have powers that I didn't understand? And WHERE WERE YOU… when I needed a mother, someone to comfort me, someone to tell me that the monsters in my dreams didn't exist? Or even just to be there… I would have settled for that, instead of having a screwed up life I've led because YOU were afraid of what "Granny" would say if you came home with a baby!" She fell to her knees in defeat, tears flowing constantly from her now red and puffy eyes and sobbing gently into her hands.

Prue swallowed back the urge to breakdown as tears began to fall down her cheeks. Even from watching her constantly after she was found by her sisters, Prue had never seen this side of her daughter, the side that was weak, vulnerable, and needed protection. The Charmed one fell to her knees beside Pamela and pulled her into a hug, the teen resisted at first, but gave into her mother and began to cry on her shoulder as Prue held her only daughter tightly and stroked her hair while rambling into her ear,

"I'm so sorry I left you, I never should have, you shouldn't have had to live the way you did, I'm so sorry!"

And unbeknownst to everyone that passed by, the spirits of mother and daughter found the strength and comfort they needed and had missed their entire lives…

* * *

Phoebe led Sandra, Ally and Brennan around the wide expanse of fields, she was able to use her powers and had found a faint signal from Nelle, but they had to move fast before the eldest Mulwray sibling fainted or worse.

Sandra tapped her big brother on the shoulder, "So, how much of a fight did you have when you wanted to name Connor after Dad?" She smirked, moving a piece of her blonde hair from her face.

"What? No fight, why would you think that?" Brennan frowned at his youngest sister.

"Well, the Halliwell line is very… strong headed, I though she would want to name him after someone in her family,"

The male witch shook his head, "You've been listening to Gramps stories too much. I see her family everyday and they're great people, just like this family actually. You would definitely get on with her sisters,"

"You're not just saying that because she can hear thoughts, are you?" She smirked, but Brennan's eyes widened.

"Is that was this is about? You're afraid of Phoebe?" He almost laughed out loud.

"C'mon Bren, we both know how powers can corrupt people, it's what caused our brother to betray us and what forced you to kill him. I'm just wondering how much she's been effected by having her powers,"

"Guys, we need to move quicker, it'll be nightfall soon," Ally said from the front with Phoebe.

Brennan shot Sandra a look before walking ahead of her…

* * *

"What's the problem?" Zach faced Emma and Leo in the empty classroom.

"This is…" Leo stepped forward and put the potion in the teen's hand, Zach glared at it and then looked at the two teachers, then gasped,

"Evan… Did he hurt you?" He replied urgently.

Emma's throat clenched up, "You knew about your brother's murderous tendencies?"

"He's not a murderer!" He replied in protest, "Look… Evan is my half brother; his father was a ghost hunter,"

"Wh-what?" The psionic almost stopped breathing; she walked towards the window and left the conversation. Leo cringed and turned back to his student, hoping that he could still salvage something,

"Look, Zach, we'd appreciate if you keep Miss DeLauro's… condition, a secret. It might cause even more complications…" The telepath nodded and silently asked if he could leave, the Elder nodded and watched him leave before going over to Emma and starting up a shaky conversation, "Are you okay?"

She snorted, "I'm I okay? I have someone who wants to kill me in my classroom. What do you think?"

"It's not his fault, it's in his genes! You can't blame him for that,"

"I want him out of my class, out of this school,"

"Emma…"

"Leo, not only is he a danger to me, but you have at least three more spiritual beings on staff! I'll know who to blame if one of them disappears,"

The tired Elder sighed, "I'll see what I can do, he's out of your class but we can't expel him because of his genes."

Emma growled something under her breath before storming out of classroom, looking around wearily in case a certain ghost hunter was hiding in the shadows…

* * *

"Are you sure she's down there?" Sandra looked down.

"Positive," Phoebe confirmed.

They all stood at the edge of a giant hole that they had found in one of the fields. Ally had almost fallen in as she hadn't noticed it in the pitch darkness of the country, it was enormous! It stretched across most of the centre of the field and they couldn't see how deep it went.

"Nelle!" Ally boomed down the hole, making a tunnel with her hands to make her shout louder. There was no answer.

"What are we waiting for? Let's go!" Brennan was about to jump in, but Phoebe pulled him back.

"Nuh uh! I'm not having a pancake for a husband!" She warned.

"Well, you said that Nelle is alive down there, so she must have not been killed by falling down!" He protested like a small child. Phoebe edged closer to the pit and wore a worried look on her face; there was something down there, something she wasn't sure she could fight. Brennan suddenly grabbed her by the waist and readied his other hand, "You guys follow me in!" He said to his sisters before jumping into the hole, the echoes of Phoebe's screams cracking the silence like ice. Sparks began to fly from Brennan's free hand as he activated his jet propulsion power to slow his descent. The middle Charmed One looked up to see her sister in law's using their version of jet propulsion, Ally had steam flowing her hands while Sandra just blasted wind from her hands.

"Can you sense her better down here?" Sandra questioned.

"Yeah… Wait!" Phoebe put up her hands to make everyone stop moving, "We're not alone…"

"There's something in here with us?" Ally's face paled, she had never wanted to fight demons again after what had happened with her father. Brennan quickly caught his wife as her eyes glazed over and she fell back,

"Honey, what's wrong?" He asked Phoebe as he brought her back to her feet.

"I don't know, th-this… doesn't feel right. We find Nelle and get out of here as fast as we can, got it?"

The two Mulwray sisters shared a worried glance and went in the direction Phoebe has indicated. Brennan still wasn't convinced; she gently held her by the arms and looked into her eyes,

"You don't look so good. Maybe I should take you back up?" He suggested, but she shook her head vigorously.

"No I…" She stopped and looked distant, "I think I know what happened… Nelle opened the ground with her power to kill some demons, but she did it on unstable ground and fell in herself," Phoebe held her hand to her face, even in the pitch black darkness someone could she was shaking, "She's unearthed something horrible…" Phoebe whispered, before stumbling again.

"That's it; I'm taking you back up." Brennan put his arm around her waist as she was close to passing out and prepared to fly, but a shout caught his attention.

"You guys! We found her!"

"I'm fine…" Phoebe pushed her husband away with great effort and stood on her own two feet, walking slowly towards the source of the noise while moving through all the boulders and earth.

"We need to get this rock off her!" Sandra announced. Nelle was lying underneath a large boulder, her long dark hair laden with dirt and her eyes barely open as she looked into the light Phoebe was creating with a psionic blast.

"Stand back," Ally instructed, everyone did so and she gestured at the ground. Steam began to form underneath the boulder and two geysers shot up from the ground, blasting the boulder into the air and sending it flying across the area.

"Okay, we need to get her home and call for our whitelighter…" Sandra carefully helped up her oldest sister who had now passed out and was severely injured. Phoebe's eyes widened and she pushed Brennan to the ground as an energy ball whirred through the air and smacked off the wall.

Everyone looked around to see a vile demon covered in blue scales, whipping his sharp tail from side to side as his white teeth stood out in the darkness, not to mention his red eyes stuck out like car headlights. Brennan picked up his stumbling wife and moved closer to his sisters, "Sandra, get us out of here now!" He fired an electrical arc from his other hand, which the demon jumped over with incredible speed and grinned as he landed gracefully.

"Sandra, NOW!" He yelled, making sure every was in contact with each other before his sister made them all disappear in a tornado. The echoes of the demons words haunted them as they left,

"You shall not defeat Macreaus!"

* * *

**NEXT TIME:** Phoebe does some research into Macreaus and is shocked by her findings. Piper is outraged when her neighbour calls her a bad mother, Brennan fears for his wife's health after their run in with the mystery demon and Emma begins a mission to unravel the reason for her second chance at life.

I don't have a title for this yet, but it'll be up soon!


	12. In The Pain Of Mine Enemy

Princess Pinky – Thanks! I thought I should have some "bonding" between the two of them. And… er…. I'll just say that I wanted a show off Brennan's powers! Yeah, that'll do, lol. And that convo will been a lot very soon!

Aniaka – More bad guy stuff will be revealed in this chapter! And you'll need to read to see how Pheebs reacts. I thought that most of the anger would come from Pam, and that the last thing Prue would do would be to dump all over the daughter she abandoned. I hope I got Piper's character down! Evan's gonna be in the next chapter, so no doubt trouble will follow!

Unique-deflection – Thanks! She might try to use it again, but it won't have good effects…

Phoebe turner – Don't count on the sisters finding out everything! Someone else, how ever… Glad you liked!

Piperfairy – I know! I just though I would add in a little normality to Piper's life and it's the demon that affected Phoebe.

Ravenix – Yup, Evan will be returning, not in this chapter though. I don't know if I'll merge the two families. Glad you liked!

Prince Halliwell – (gasp) No! You're picking up my habit lol! Brennan and Phoebe are already back, I didn't want them gone for so long. And more demon info is in this chapter. Yes, I couldn't bare to leave Pamela out of it completely! There will be more from Piper's gang, don't worry!

**In The Pain Of Mine Enemy**

Emma picked up some of her belongings from the desk and put them into her purse, opening her compact and moving her hair around before snapping it shut and putting it away. A cold wind blew into the room, sending a jar to the floor and making it smash, it had already been teetering on the edge of the shelf so Emma wasn't that surprised although the sound of breaking glass still mad her jump and made her drop her purse. Sighing in annoyance she bent down to pick up her purse when she realized something, what the hell had caused the wind? She got back up and saw that the window at the back of the classroom was open. The psionic laughed at her own paranoia and went to close the window, there was a knock on her door and Emma suddenly flew around, sending a mental blast flying from her forehead at whoever had entered.

"Whoa!" Was a very surprised Phoebe as she held onto her son tight as she duck out of the way, standing up and looking at her friend in shock, "A little jumpy, Ems?" She looked at her with a dumbfounded expression.

"Oh… Sorry," She said with a nervous smile before going back to pulling the window shut.

"I can't really blame you, what with Zach's little brother and all…" Emma looked at her oddly, "Piper told me. Do you want some company going back? Cause I can wait if you want…" The Charmed One offered.

"No, it's alright, Grant's meeting me. Why are you here anyway?" She walked over to her, beaming at Connor and ruffling his dark hair.

"Research," Phoebe replied, holding up a book with her free hand," You'll never guess what I found, we need to have a family meeting," Emma bowed her head, Phoebe immediately sensed her doubts, "Emma, trust me, you are family. Anyone who can survive living in the Manor for a year and a half definitely deserves a place! You're like… you're like a sister to Piper and Paige, and I hope I can get to know you the same way they do…" Phoebe's face reddened while the potions teacher grinned,

"Thanks!" Emma looked at the cover of the book, "Did it say anything about the feeling you had?"

"No," She shook her head slightly, "It must be an empath thing, we'll know when you come up against him,"

"Well I'll take your word for it right now, because as far as I'm concerned, any demon who can cause fainting and nausea without even doing anything is a danger,"

Phoebe nodded and headed for the door, "You sure you're gonna be okay here by yourself?" She turned around and Grant was standing in the doorway. All the Halliwell could do was smirk, "Never mind,"

Emma smirked back as Phoebe left, walking towards her boyfriend to meet him halfway.

"Hey, ready to go?" He asked her.

"Wait…" She planted a soft kiss on his lips, "Now I am…"

* * *

Piper was almost climbing into the bottom kitchen cabinet, looking for the loaf of bread that she was sure she had bought yesterday at the store. She pushed the cereal boxes out of the way and grunted as she stretched to the back; the witch flailed her hand as she touched the bread, but sighed when it was behind something. _I'm sure a little magic won't hurt _she thought, grabbing the loaf and phasing, pulling it out of the cupboard and towards her. Piper smiled at her success before banging her head off the cabinet as she stood up.

"Okay, I've learned my lesson!" She yelled to the ceiling before slamming the desired object on the counter. Emma walked into the kitchen, tying a knot in her silk gown while smiling to herself, but that vanished when she noticed Piper.

"Piper! Wh-wh-what are you doing here?" She said, slightly out of breath.

"Uh… When a person lives in a house, they tend to spend a lot of time there. Are you okay?"

"Me?" The psionic laughed nervously and rubbed the back of her neck, "I'm fine!" She waved her hand as if to dismiss the claim, "I meant what are you doing up so early?" Emma grinned again.

Piper cocked her head and smirked a bit, determined to catch her out, "I'm always up this early on a Saturday, you're not however. Were you hoping I wasn't going to be here?"

She breathed out a laugh while her chest rose and fell quickly, "Don't be ridiculous! I…"

"Hey, I found my shirt…" Grant walked in as he buttoned up his shirt, without realizing a dumbstruck Piper standing in the kitchen before he looked up, equally surprised, "Uh… Hi,"

The eldest Charmed One managed to stifle a laugh as Emma held her head in her hands, "Hi," She responded, putting a hand on her hip and putting the other on the counter, "Sleep well?"

Grant smiled awkwardly, "Yeah, look, I'm sorry, I'll get out of your way," He tripped over his own words.

"No, that's okay, Emma lives here too. She's allowed to have sleepovers," She grinned at her friend, whose face had gone crimson.

"I'll show you to the door," The psionic took the elemental's hand and led him out of the kitchen.

"Um…" Piper brought their attention back, "Sock," She pointed to white sock on the kitchen table. Nervous smiles were exchanged again before Emma got to the front door while the eldest Halliwell stood in the kitchen doorway, watching the scene unfold.

"I'll see you later," He whispered before kissing Emma on the cheek.

"Bye…" She watched him walk down the steps while leaning her head on the open door and sighing. Emma closed the door and turned around to see Piper grinning at her with folded arms.

"So…" She began.

"Please don't," She begged, but Piper continued.

"Why was his sock on the kitchen table? We eat there, Emma," Piper teased her friend and followed her into the kitchen, "How'd it happen anyway? You usually don't sleep with guys after just a month,"

Emma looked offended, "I'm not _that_ conservative you know! And we have been flirting for ages so it was just a mixture of passion, pent up sexual tension and… maybe a little booze,"

"Well, I guess since you've been training for the Marathon the last four months, you're trying to fit in as much exercise as possible before next week," Piper laughed.

"That's disgusting!" Emma scolded her, taking a bottle of water out of the refrigerator.

"Coming from the person who did it on the kitchen table…" Piper added in, pursing her lips to hold in her laugh.

Emma spun around and scowled, "Three more questions! That's it!"

"Oh, alright! First time with each…"

"Yup,"

"On the kitchen…"

"No,"

"Was it…"

Emma's eyes glazed over, "Oh yeah!"

* * *

Phoebe sat in her dining room with her glasses perched on the bridge of her nose; she would occasionally look at some of the files that were sitting around her before typing on her laptop. Brennan came walking down the stairs holding a baby monitor,

"Connor's down for his nap, you want any lunch?" He asked, setting the monitor down on the table.

Phoebe looked up from the computer screen, "Um… I think I'll just have a sandwich, I'm not that hungry,"

"Are you sure? Because I can go get you something of you want," he offered.

"Wouldn't leaving me alone break your "Protect Phoebe at all costs" program? Brennan," She took her glasses off, "You've been treating me like a fragile ornament ever since we got back from your Mom's. What's wrong all of a sudden?"

"I'm just making sure you're safe, you saw how that demon affected you,"

"I know, that's why I'm doing this research," She gestured to all the paper lying about on the table, "So I won't get sick again and I can help fight him with my sisters,"

Brennan raised his eyebrows, "You're actually accepting help for a change?"

She laughed and looked back at her screen before gasping, "Oh my God!" Before she could explain her surprise, Connor's cries began to flow through the baby monitor.

"I'll get him…" Brennan walked back into the front area, taking the steps two at a time.

Phoebe began to read the internet page that she had miraculously found.

_Ancient Pagan lore tells of a vicious blue scaled creature that came from the fires of hell. This demonic horror rampaged through towns, brutally murdering all others that stood in his way. Centuries ago, the beast was said to have been contained by a powerful Wicca named Brendan Stewart…_

Phoebe paused at that name, Brendan Stewart was the witch who began the Mulwray line and fore told the prophecy of the Child of Storms. She was definitely convinced that this demon was Macreaus.

…_who sealed him into the ground of his homeland with an array of spectacular abilities to alter and control the elements. He is said to be an assassin bred for the sheer purpose of serving the one with no form, Setanor._

Her heart began to pound, "Assassin…" She whispered out loud, knowing that her and her sisters didn't fare well against demonic assassins, especially since Phoebe had lost Prue to one and had almost lost Piper. "Setanor…" Her eyes widened, it had to be the Nameless One!

There was a crash upstairs and Connor's screaming became more piercing, "Mommy's coming!" Phoebe shouted as she leapt from her chair and bounded up the stairs.

When she ran in, Brennan was holding a bleeding arm while slumped on the floor, his leg was clearly broken judging by the obscure position it was in and his lip was bleeding.

"Phoebe, stay back!" He grunted, trying to stand up from the wreckage of a changing table, but his wife ignored him and charged forward, igniting a psionic blast and preparing to fire.

All Macreaus did was smile at her with his white teeth glowing against his blue skin and red eyes, but it sent such a horrible empathic shock through her body that she fell to the floor immediately, unconscious. Connor screamed as his electric field hummed with power around him, the scaly demon merely smirked before sending the spear-like end of his tail into the electrified dome, making the defense spark and sizzle, as if it was angry. He gritted his teeth as the breaching of the shield sent voltage through his body, but it finally retracted back into the bawling infant lying in the crib before Macreaus picked him up with his sharp claws and grinned.

"It doesn't help to have an empathic mother when I'm around…" He said in a threatening voice, before exploding into thousands of tiny particles and flying out the window, the wails of a child separated from his parents echoing as the demon left…

* * *

"Um… Piper?" Emma cringed as she looked out the front window.

"Yeah?" She answered absent mindedly, flicking through a magazine.

"Wyatt's bike is blue with the green handle bars, right?"

"Yeah, why?" Piper stood up from the couch and began walking towards Emma.

"Because Mrs. Noble's putting it in her dumpster…" She clenched her eyes shut, knowing that Piper was about to lose it. Instead of losing it, the witch took a deep breath and extended her arm out, managing to freeze the woman, who was reaching into her dumpster with a bike, from there.

"That crone had dumped her last kid's toy…" Piper growled, making Emma jump when she slammed the door.

Wyatt looked on as the mean old lady next door shoved his beloved bike into her big orange box, the little boy's lip quivered in anger before he realized that she was frozen and his Mommy was standing next to him,

"Mommy, you told me and Chris not to use our magics on other peoples," He looked up at Piper.

"Neighbours from hell are the exception," She answered and tapped her foot in annoyance.

"Do we vanish her if she's from that bad place?"

Piper knelt down and smiled at her son, "If only the entire world thought like a five year old boy, the world would be a better place…" She ruffled his hair before standing up and unfreezing Mrs. Noble and getting ready for a fight.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" She challenged.

Mrs. Noble didn't turn around until she had dropped the bike in the dumpster, "Your little toe rag wouldn't move his bike, so I did it for him," She smiled smugly.

"Who the hell do you think you are? Do you realize how much those things cost these days?"

"Oh, don't preach to me about parenting! From what I can see, you're a terrible mother!"

Piper's eyes widened with rage and her face contorted into one of fury, "How dare you! I-,"

"You curse in front of your children, I've never seen any mother use the "H" word so many times, your kids misbehave, and they don't respect their elders!"

"So, bad behaviour to you is when a child doesn't move something immediately when they're told,"

The neighbour sneered at her, "You can't really blame _them_, it's not the child's fault if they have an incompetent mother…"

Piper gasped in horror and froze the insulting woman, although she was tempted to blow her up. Emma had sensed her anger and ran out, standing next to her friend.

"Okay, your emotions are beginning to make me angry, what's she saying to piss you off so much?"

"Oh… Nothing, just trashing five years of raising children…" The angry witch gritted her teeth and unfroze the woman, who looked strangely at Emma.

"Where did you come from?" She looked Emma up and down.

"Um…" The psionic struggled for an answer until Piper jumped in.

"She's been standing there all this time, were you too senile to notice?" She spat.

Mrs. Noble sneered again, "I don't have to listen this…" She went to turn away, then stopped, "By the way, she…" She pointed at Emma, "Has to be like, the hundredth person to stay in your house, not a stable environment if you ask me!"

Piper's face went dark, "You have no idea what my life is like, you sad, lonely, bitter, twisted old woman! For your information, Emma is a highly respected teacher and is a great influence on my boys!"

Mrs. Noble growled and stomped back up her driveway, while Wyatt blinked and his bike reappeared next to him in a swirl of orbs. The neighbour turned round and Emma stepped in front of the bike so she wouldn't start another fight.

"Bitch…" The eldest Halliwell growled, Wyatt gaped at his mother cursing.

"What did you say?" He breathed.

"Bike! She said… go… put your bike away!" Emma beamed as she lied to her little roommate. Wyatt nodded and wheeled his bike up the driveway.

"We need you inside, the demon that Phoebe and Brennan ran into took Connor,"

* * *

Paige took her hand off Brennan's leg as she finished healing, she stood up then sat back down again, putting her hand on her lower back and taking a deep breath. Emma smirked slightly, knowing that her best friend hated having to live like this, especially wearing the maternity clothes.

"You know, if one kid would just pop out right now, I think I could handle that better. My orbing power is a god send these days,"

"You want help up to the attic sweetie?" Emma smiled.

"No thanks, I got it covered," She grinned before orbing out of the living room.

Emma sighed and stood up; she nodded towards the stairs, "You coming?" She asked Brennan, who has holding his head in his hands.

"I failed my son; I let that bastard take him!" He lashed out and punched the table in front of him, making a dent in Piper's coffee table and making his knuckles bleed.

Emma just shook her head, "How does Phoebe put up with you? I can't believe you're still this insecure! You'd go crazy every time Shal saved your ass during a mission, now get out of your self pity and help find your son!" She stormed off into the kitchen.

"I thought you were going upstairs?" He shouted.

"I had a brainwave. I need to make a very special potion,"

* * *

"Are you getting anything?" Phoebe hovered over Piper who was scrying.

"Do you see the crystal dropping? Pheebs, calm down, my kids have been kidnapped countless times and they're fine,"

"Yeah, and Wyatt almost turned evil!" She spat, before instantly recoiling, "I'm sorry, it's just that this is the first time that a demon has got him, unless you count a psycho mutant," The middle Halliwell growled.

"Wait a minute!" Paige suddenly shouted, "Why the hell are we scrying for the demon when Connor is with him?"

"Oh my God, you're right… Give me the crystal," Phoebe walked over to the table.

"Why?"

"I'm his parent, aren't I?" She argued.

"Then I'll do it," The sisters looked confused as they turned around to see Brennan.

"Really?" Paige said doubtfully.

Brennan ignored her and took the crystal off the table, wordlessly spinning the crystal around the map. Phoebe walked up to him and squeezed his shoulder, giving him a quick peck on the cheek, "Thanks…" She whispered, kissing his cheek. He smiled before turning back to the amethyst that had just dropped on the map.

He uttered the famous "successful scrying" words, "Found'em,"

* * *

Piper and Brennan appeared in a swirl of bright lights, causing the dark cave to light up for a split second as they appeared. Walking cautiously into the darkness, the Halliwell carried a bag of normal hand grenade potions while Brennan held one potion that looked like gold nail polish.

"Looking for me?" a voice said, Macreaus particled in with Connor in his arms, he looked surprised to see Piper instead of Phoebe, "Who are you?"

"I'm the aunt!" She said simply, releasing a golden glow from her hands and into the ground, making the scaly demon fall to the ground while Connor stayed in mid air, he was levitating! "Brennan, throw Emma's potion," The Mulwray complied and threw the gold substance at the demon on the ground, a silver cloud of gas floating up from the mixture.

"Phoebe, it's all clear now," He shouted, and his wife appeared in the same swirl of lights that he had come in. Connor giggled in the air and floated over to his mother, who, for once, wasn't sick around this demon. When Macreaus got up, he grinned at her.

"Didn't you learn your lesson from the last two times?"

"Didn't you realize the effects of the potion that got thrown at you?" She replied innocently, "See, with all the stuff I found about you, by friend, who's an expert on potions, managed to figure out your secret," She wore a look of pity, "The only reason you affect empaths in the way you do is because you are constantly in pain, that's how you were bred. But thanks to that little potion, its blocks you from all my psychic senses, you'd think that be a good thing, but…" She hit him with a psionic blast and he flew across the cave, smacking against the wall, "It's hard bare all that pain by yourself, isn't it?"

"Pheebs, let's get outta here before he recovers!" Piper urged, leading the two of them out of the cave…

* * *

Piper stood in the doorway of the room that her sons shared, she stifled a laugh when Chris turned over and snorted slightly, while Chris slept peacefully, that was how her youngest son did most things, quietly. She blew them both a kiss before closing the door, on her way to the bedroom, Leo orbed in right in front of her.

"I'm sorry I'm so late," He kissed her on the cheek, "Meetings, schedules… Who would think a school would be so busy at the weekend?"

She smiled, "I'm just glad you're here now. Leo, am I a bad mother?"

"What?" He stroked her hair as he walked into the bedroom, "You're a great Mom, who's telling you different?"

"Nothing… I just had a stupid fight with Mrs. Noble," Saying that name felt like acid on her tongue as she looked out into the dark street.

"All you need to do is look at our boys to see what an amazing mother you are. Piper, if you were a horrible mother, I'd have taken them away from you a long time ago, but you're caring, kind, sensitive, and most of all loving!"

She turned to him and smiled, "I love you…"

He looked surprised, "Where did that come from?"

"Just that you can make me feel better no matter what," She sat on his knee on the bed.

Leo smiled at his wife, "I love you too,"

* * *

I know there was a lack of Paige in his chapter, but she's in the next one, and…

**The twins will be born in Chapter 15!** I know it seems quite early, but I have a way around that! It will be called **"Double, Double, Twins In Trouble"**

**NEXT TIME:** A clan of shape shifters makes an attempt to steal Paige's unborn children. Piper continues to clash with Mrs. Noble and makes the mistake of using magic, Phoebe fights with Jason and Emma is barely saved by Grant from an unknown force. Evan senses a presence in the hospital when going with Zach and Jenna to visit Pam.

Chapter 13 **"Hunting In A Ghost Town"** will be up soon!


	13. Hunting In A Ghost Town

Phoebe turner – Thanks! Glad you liked it!

Prince Halliwell – Thanks! Lol, that's where I got my inspiration from! And I can assure you that Phoebe isn't pregnant, not until the sequel. And he could stay nameless forever, could he?

Piperfairy – You'll see about Pam! And there's a twist with Evan! Lol, it's about time, isn't it? And that neighbour's a bitch! Lol, your countdown…

Princess Pinky – Lol, I think that Emma's just sometimes a little too good, so I had to throw in something like that! And yes, there's going to be consequences for Piper… major consequences. And no, Mrs. Noble is the actual name of their neighbour! It's at the start of the season 6 finale.

Ravenix – The marathon is in the next chapter, and you'll find out about the twins soon! Lol, he couldn't stay that way forever now, could he?

Unique deflection – Yeah, they'll start using their powers quite quickly. And yeah, he expelled Pamela's soul from her body.

Aniaka – Lol, I'm glad you liked! And you'll like this chapter, Brennan isn't in it! Yeah, I always thought that Paige would be the one most resistant to motherhood, that's why I added the drama of the abortion. And Piper's going to be getting into a lot of trouble, but it'll be a storyline for her and her family! Heh… you never know, it might be Prue!

Wyatt Halliwell – Thanks! Yup, the twins are coming!

Kendallpaigecharity – Thanks! And hi! I'm glad you're enjoying my fic! I'm going to make the kids a bit more definable as they grow older, I'm glad you liked it and I hope you'll keep reading!

**Hunting In A Ghost Town**

Paige ran into the attic, her pregnant stomach completely gone, she ran over to the book before flipping frantically through it, looking for a spell that she knew wasn't there, one that would save her. The witchlighter began to shake as the muffled footsteps got louder; she turned her head away as the door became a shower of wood splinters. Macreaus gave her his chilling smile, wheeling his arm in a circular motion and preparing to fire a concussive blast that would throw Paige out the window.

Before it could leave his hand, he was blasted across the room by a light that pierced his back. It sent him into a table, reducing it to rubble, but he got up and growled at Phoebe and Piper, Phoebe had another psionic blast ready to fire.

He got up quickly, sending a large energy ball towards the two Charmed Ones, the oldest managed to freeze it with a quick hand gesture and her younger sister redirected it with telempathy. The demon particled out before the energy ball blew up most of the floor, he reappeared behind the two witches, raising his spiked tail with lightning speed and pierced Phoebe's lower back, the bloody tip flying right through her body and appearing through her stomach. The middle Charmed One coughed up a mound of blood before dying and falling to the floor. Piper didn't have time to react to her dead sister, as Macreaus threw an energy ball at her chest, pounding off her and sending the eldest witch into the wall, her bleeding chest slowly diminishing her life. He turned to Paige, who was holding back the tears for her fallen family. Before Macreaus fired a concussive blast, sending Paige into one of the dressers filled with potion ingredients, the shelves fell on top of her along with countless glass jars, her face were heavily cut and her back was riddled with wood shafts and glass shards.

The assassin grinned, looking around it his work. He had killed the Charmed Ones, brutally, he was about to particle out, when the entire scene froze and the three Halliwell sisters came out of the shadows.

"Paige, I know these astral simulations are supposed to help, but it's really disturbing to see us dying like this," Piper looked obscurely at the identical dead woman on the ground.

"Yeah, and why am I always the one of get the tail?" Phoebe knelt down and prodded at the dead body next to her.

A very pregnant Paige rolled her eyes and clicked her fingers, making the corpses and the demon in mid particle out; disappear in flashes of red light, "Do you realize how long it took to create these astral copies? Tons of research and correct potion ingredients! Not to mention having to word the spell properly!"

"Well, just because they aren't real it doesn't mean the damage isn't, my dresser is ruined!" The eldest sister gestured to the pile of rubble that was made up of glass and wood.

"I was just trying to help…" The baby sister sulked.

"Aw…" Phoebe got up and put an arm around Paige's shoulder, "I love your astral games, sweetie," She stroked her sister's hair, "Even if they are a little…"

"Gory?" Piper offered.

"Graphic…" Phoebe shot a look at her, "Can you give me a lift? I would like to get home before my son goes to sleep,"

Paige nodded, "No problem!" She began to glow with orbs as they spread to Phoebe, making them both disappear. Piper looked around her messed up attic, frowning and putting her hands on her hips,

"Oh sure, leave _me_ with the clean up!"

* * *

Later that night, Pamela sat in the chair next to her body; her mother was hovering around her. She finally came out of her concentration and cracked, "I can't do this! How can I control my body when I'm not in it?"

"Pam, this isn't about you controlling your body, it's about working it a little," Prue replied calmly, sitting down on the bed.

"Look, I've never been into the whole "Mind, body and soul" thing, so cut the crap and explain to me,"

The deceased witch smiled at her daughter, "You have your Great Gram's bluntness," She said wistfully, Pamela just rolled her eyes and Prue quickly moved on to avoid another outburst, "Even though you're not in your body anymore, a part of your soul still lives in there, all you need to do is tap into it!"

The young Halliwell's eyes went past her mother and to the people, "I'll tap later, but there are people here to stare at me," She smiled wryly at the three teens that had just walked into her hospital room.

"Wow… She needs her hair done," Jenna frowned at her comatose friend, referring to her fringe that had grown over her eyes.

"Thank you!" Pamela exclaimed, no one had thought to even cut her hair.

Evan's bowed head suddenly shot up as if he had heard something, the ghost hunter frowned and narrowed his eyes as surveyed the room. His eyes resting a little too long at the place where Pamela and Prue were sitting, if the Charmed One didn't any better, she would have thought that he had made eye contact with her.

"What's wrong?" Zach asked his brother with a frown.

He continued to stare into Prue's eyes; she didn't back down, "Nothing…"

"Who is that?" The witch was instantly suspicious of her daughter's visitor.

"Him? Oh, he's Zach's little brother, a little weird of you ask me…" Pamela replied.

"Well Zach, here's your chance to ask her out! She's unconscious!" Jenna smirked.

"Shut up, Jen," The telepath replied.

The ghostly teen's eyes widened at her friend's "confession" but as she looked back, it all made sense, she finally understood all the little comments Jenna had made over the past year. All of the little glances, smiles, it all added up! Zach liked her; she had no idea how to react.

Prue smirked at the rainbow of emotions going over her child's face, remembering the first time she had feelings for Andy, they had been six at the time though, so it was slightly different. She had bumped her head when they were playing and he had said

"I'll kiss it better,"

She rolled her eyes, even back then she was smitten with him. Who would have thought their relationship would end like this? Her being stuck in the afterlife and him living a hollow life as a whitelighter.

Evan continued to stare at the chair Pamela was sitting in; she glared back at him and was surprised when she got a scowl in response, "Can he see us?"

"I don't know, there's something not right about him,"

* * *

Paige orbed into her office at Social Services, she had left her purse here and had remembered so late because she had gone straight to Piper's after work to work on the simulation conjuring spell. "There you are…" She said to herself, seeing her small mint green purse on her chair, she went to grab it when a voice caught her attention.

"Paige? I didn't even see you come in," Paige's assistant frowned at her boss.

"Oh… Hi Roxy! Yeah, I tend to do that to a lot of people! I just came by to pick up my purse,"

The tanned woman frowned, "What? You're halfway through your pregnancy! You shouldn't be doing things like that!"

"Yeah, I know, but I left car keys in my purse so I wouldn't be able to get to work tomorrow without them!" Paige grinned nervously.

"Then how did get here?"

"Oh… my… sister drove me; she's waiting in the parking lot. Well, I gotta go!" She went to leave, but her assistant called her from her desk outside Paige's office.

"There's some mail on your desk that you night as well look at if you're here," She said.

The witchlighter mulled it over then turned back to her desk, picking up the various envelopes and looking at them one by one. Roxy smirked as she crept up behind her boss, conjuring an athame in her hand behind her back,

"Did you file the Taylor papers like I asked?" Paige asked without turning around.

"That's the least of your problems…" Roxy said in a threatening tone, which the youngest Charmed One didn't process.

"Yeah, I know, I've still got a lot of other stuff to do, but I really want to get the Taylor's sorted out, you know?"

"Something else needs sorted out…" Roxy replied.

This time Paige caught it slightly, she frowned but still didn't turn around, "Are you okay?"

"Never better…" She replied, raising the weapon above her head and getting ready to strike, to take Paige's powers and her children's too. The witchlighter frowned as the mail suddenly slipped her fingers, she gasped as her porceline skin became see though and her body began the change into water! She gaped at her watery hand before she turned into water completely; Paige turned round to try and explain to her assistant, but gasped when Roxy brought an athame down through her body. She slid through her boss and landed on the other side of the table as Paige returned to her original form. One of the baby's had saved her!

"Good girl…" She patted her stomach lovingly, "I'll take care of the rest," The witch suddenly went into a maternal mode and used her power to pin her "assistant" against the wall, "Show yourself!" She bellowed, tightening her hand slightly to apply pressure on the demon. The evil being writhed slightly before its form changed and her assistant became a dirty man wearing rags for clothes. "Shapeshifter…" Paige groaned, making a swift arm gesture to her left and making the demon fly to the left and hit the ground, "Potion!" She called for the stun potion that she kept in her purse in case of emergencies and it appeared in her hand encased in orbs. She threw it at the ground, a pink gas flew out and went up the recovering demon's nostrils and he fell to he ground again.

"Just my luck…"

* * *

"Pam just isn't the same company when she's in a coma…" Jenna mused as she sat down in a chair, while Pamela wore a shocked expression and shouted in her friends face, even though she couldn't hear it.

"Oh… When I get out of this coma, you, Jenna Hollywood, will pay dearly for that!"

As she said that, Evan turned his head from looking at the spot where Prue was, to where Jenna was sitting, she just gave him a strange look.

"I know I'm pretty, but you don't need to stare…" She said with a cringe.

"C'mon, lets go…" Zach said in a sad tone.

The three of them got up to leave, but before he left the room, Evan made sure his brother wasn't watching before pulling out a glowing sphere. He glared at it and the tool began to glow a purple colour. Prue and Pamela watched on in confusion until he looked straight at them and grinned, "I knew it…" He said.

"Oh my God…" Prue gasped, finally realizing what the sphere was as a spear of purple light shot from it and headed straight for her daughter, "Pam, look out!" She screamed, pushing Pamela out of the way and the purple light hit her. The deceased witch began to glow purple before she became a wisp of light and shot back into the ball.

"I'll be back…" He said threateningly to a dumbfounded Pamela who sat shocked on the floor. The ghost hunter walked out, taking his new prisoner in the form of a Charmed One with him…

* * *

"Thanks Madeline!" Emma beamed to the magic store owner as she left with a bag of dragon root; she was testing new potions that she was going to put into the senior's course next year. These potions would be very complicated and dangerous and she would need to test them herself and clear it with Leo before she changed the course.

The psionic walked briskly along the sidewalk, cursing herself for parking so far away from the shop in the first place. A chilling gust of wind made her auburn hair blow up into her face as she walked down the lone road. _This is the last time I come out for potion ingredients at this time of night!_ Emma thought to herself as she picked up the pace, but the psionic stopped in her tracks when her powers alerted her to a presence in the alley she was standing at the edge of.

"Help! Someone help me!" The man's voice shouted.

Emma looked around to make sure no one else was looking before igniting a psionic blast for light and hugging the bag of dragon root nervously. She looked around the area, peering her head round every dumpster, trash can, and black bag she could see, Emma decided that San Francisco had too much garbage after seeing how much there was in just one alley.

Her power of intuition aided her as she rolled out of the way of a glowing stream of purple light. Emma got back to her feet after dropping her dragon root and tried to face her attacker, but all that could be seen was a cloaked figure and a glowing purple sphere in their hand. She attempted to fire the blast that she had created for a light, but before the mental energy to make contact, the sphere flashed purple again and the attack changed course and was absorbed by the ball.

"Nor alive… nor dead…" A deep demonic voice echoed from underneath the hood, "Just…being…" The sphere fired another shot of purple light which struck Emma in chest; she screamed and fell to her knees, clutching her head from the pain that was going through her body, "Pathetic morsel… Afraid to accept their fate… you shall defy destiny no more!"

The being walked over to the cowering to psionic, who was shaking on the ground from the agony that coursed through her bones. Emma saw a purple light get brighter out of the corner of her eye, she was finished. But a gushing noise made her eyes flash open and she looked up to see her attacker groan in agony as a large stream of sand blasted him into a wall and made him drop the purple sphere.

The psionic looked up see her savior and managed a smile wearily when she saw Grant with his arms outstretched and dribbles of sand falling from his palm. The cloaked figure got up to his feet and growled at the Elemental before disappearing in a flash of lavender light, leaving the sphere behind.

"Hey…" He helped his girlfriend to her feet, "Are you okay?" He brushed his thumbs across her cheeks and looked into her eyes. She breathed heavily and suddenly jumped on him, hugging Grant a tightly as possible as she rambled into his shoulder.

"Oh God! I thought I was finished! Where did you come from?"

"You were supposed to meet me at the restaurant. I called your house and cell and got no answer to I sensed for you. Why didn't you fight?"

"He… he…" She Emma struggled to remember the last few minutes with a throbbing headache, "He used a ball… or something,"

Grant noticed the ball on the ground; its glow was now weakening as it had been separated from master. He picked it up and looked at it strangely, shaking it in his hand, "You recognize it?" he showed it to Emma, who, upon looking at it, winced in pain and squinted her eyes as the ball began to glow violet again, "Maybe I should just keep this in my pocket…" He stuffed it in his jacket before taking Emma's hand and sanding out…

* * *

Piper yawned as she flicked another page of her magazine. Both she and Phoebe were guarding Paige's bedroom after checking the Book of Shadows and seeing that the shapeshifter that had attacked her was part of a tribe, so there would be more. She glanced up from the couch in her sister's apartment to see Phoebe on the balcony outside, running a hand through her long brown hair as she yelled down the phone to her boss and ex-boyfriend.

"You can't just call me from Tokyo and demand a rewrite of tomorrows… no, today's column! Even I were to do what you asked, you really think the printers are going to "stop the presses" just to put my column in? Especially since the morning edition is out in another three hours!" She scowled as she listened to Jason's shouts on the other line, Phoebe gaped as she listened, "My writing was crap? The only crap is the one that's on the other end of my line, you jackass! Oh yeah? Go to hell? Been there, done that!" She said defiantly before slamming her flip phone, "That arrogant, piece of sh-," She cut herself off when she saw Piper suddenly leaping off the couch and into Paige's room, Phoebe quickly opened the glass door and run back inside to help.

As the two sisters burst through, they saw a woman identical to Phoebe holding a pillow over Paige's face, slowly cutting off her air and smothering her. The eldest reacted immediately and blew up the attacker, making it take its true form before dying, which was a man that fit the description of her youngest sister's initial attacker.

"Oh my God…" Piper whispered, running to the side of the bed and pulling the pillow off her now unconscious sister's face, "We need to do CPR!"

"I'll get her chest!" Phoebe volunteered, bounding up onto the bed and beginning to push on Paige's chest while Piper blocked her nose and breathed air into her lungs. They continued this for another thirty seconds before the pregnant witch spluttered to life,

"UGH! What did you have for dinner?" She exclaimed, sitting bolt upright.

"Lasagna... with some garlic bread on the side…" Piper added sheepishly.

Phoebe smiled, "She's back,"

"Next time, just call Leo," Paige groaned, flopping back into her bed.

Piper's cell phone began to vibrate and dance across the coffee table in the living room; she walked back into the main area of the apartment and picked it up, seeing the words "Emma Del" on the screen.

"Hi," She greeted her friend.

"Hi! Look, Piper, don't worry, but… the book isn't here," Emma said, waiting for the witch to go crazy.

"I know, I've got here at Paige's. Why do you need it?"

"Oh… No reason," She lied, "What are you doing at Paige's so late?"

"Oh, she was attacked by a clan of shapeshifters; we're guarding her until morning,"

Emma's voice seemed to heighten, "You mean you're not coming home?" She squeaked.

Piper frowned, "No, why?"

"No, it's nothing, Grant's staying tonight anyway to I'll be fine,"

"Why wouldn't you be?"

"I gotta go! Bye!" The line went dead, and left Piper confused…

* * *

"Damn those witches!" The leader of the shapeshifter clan spat as he felt another one of his men being vanquished by the Charmed Ones. He was a thin, scrawny demon that wasn't really dressed any better than his minions, his teeth were yellow and he had short black hair that barely covered his scalp.

"They've seen through the disguise of a co-worker, even as a sister, what else can we use?" his final willing minion asked him.

"We can use one form that is sure to stun the Charmed One from her senses," He smirked before his body began to change, his thin black hair becoming thick and blonde, his clothes becoming a pair of jeans and a tight black t-shirt, and his smirk becoming a warm grin,

"We use the appearance of her former lover, the father of her children," He grinned at his minion before shimmering out in Aidan's form…

* * *

Piper got out of her car after spending a sleepless night at Paige's, she was about to climb the stairs when she saw Emma's car getting a ticket from the patrol guy and Mrs. Noble looking on with a smirk, "What is going on?" Piper stomped over to her neighbour.

"Your permanent house guest parked her car in my driveway!" The plump woman spat.

"She wouldn't have to if those idiots who empty your dumpster hadn't put it in front of our driveway instead of yours!" Piper pointed angrily at her.

Mrs. Noble gaped and turned to the patrol guy, "This is what I have to put up with!"

The man just sighed and slapped the ticket onto the windshield of Emma's car, but Piper froze both of them and remembered a spell from the book.

"These words will travel through the minds,

Of stubborn parties and unbind,

The thoughts too rigid to be kind,

A compromise they'll disentwine!"

A swirl of lights went across the patrol guy and Piper unfroze her two victims, the man blinked a couple of times before answering, "You know, it really is your fault that your neighbour was forced to park here, I should be punishing you for not paying attention when your dumpster was dropped off,"

Piper grinned at Mrs. Noble as she walked up the steps to her house, watching the woman's mouth open and close in shock. As she went in the door, Piper was sure to glare at the newly planted flowers in her neighbours garden, making all of then die instantly…

* * *

Paige unlocked her apartment, struggling with the bag of groceries in her arm as she pushed the door open, but she dropped them as soon as she saw who was sitting in the chair, the spaghetti sauce mix smashed as soon as it hit the floor, "Aidan?" She breathed, close to tears.

The blonde haired father of her children sat up silently and walked across the room towards her, his green eyes full of regret and love. He put his hand onto her face and pulled her into a passionate kiss, Paige was rendered stunned to this but returned it all the same, leaning up as much as she could with her pregnant stomach. Her eyes suddenly flashed open and her face contorted into a painful one as she fell to the ground with her chest bleeding from the heart.

Aidan smirked at her as he held a blood stained athame to his lips, licking the blood off it then glowing brightly as the powers of the three witches entered him. He turned back into his true form,

"Thanks for the powers…" He said, shimmering out and leaving Paige and her children to die…

* * *

The shapeshifter leader shimmered back into his lair with a smirk playing on his bloody lips. The minion looked at him strangely before speaking, "Did you get her?" He asked, but he knew from the expression on his boss's face that he had. The leader was about to speak, when his minion was blown up by something in the shadows, he turned around to see all three Charmed Ones ready to kill him.

"That's impossible! I killed you!" He boomed, pointing a shaky hand at Paige.

Phoebe frowned, "What? Oh… you mean her?" She pointed to the ground, where a dead Paige with a chest wound had just appeared, "Astral simulations are great, aren't they? My sister invented them," Paige clicked her fingers and the simulation vanished in a flare of red light.

"She's been at Magic School all day…" Piper smirked, "You should really more attention,"

"Yeah dude…" Paige began, "The guy left me pregnant five months ago to play "Kings and Queens" I wouldn't just jump back into his arms. Although there's something else I'd like to do to him…" She growled absent mindedly, her older sisters noticed this.

The youngest Charmed One threw out her arm aggressively, sending the demon into the wall and he landed hard, "That was for trying to kill me…" She walked over to the demon trying to crawl away and threw a potion at him. He writhed in agony on the floor as the fires took him, sending him to hell with a bang, "And that was for trying to kill my children…"

She walked back over to Piper and Phoebe, who were stunned by their sister's ferocity, "What was that?" The eldest gasped.

"That was me giving up on love; it just gets me stabbed in the heart, no pun intended,"

"What?" Phoebe exclaimed.

"You heard. Lets just get out of here, I've had enough," She took her sisters by the hand and orbed out, leaving them both shocked by Paige's proclamation…

* * *

**NEXT TIME:** Lexa and Jesse visit San Francisco and give Brennan some shocking news about his wife, Piper begins to pay for her misuse of magic with Social Services investigating her skills as a parent. Phoebe is determined to make Paige believe in love again, and Emma begins to hear the call of the empath.

Chapter 14 **"Something Mutated This Way Comes" **should be up soon!


	14. Something Mutated This Way Comes

Prince Halliwell – Prue and Pam are on another plane where they can't be seen, even by witches. I don't have a name for the sequel yet, but there will be one! And you're exactly right; one twin has dominant whitelighter side, while the other has a dominant elemental side! There's isn't much of Jesse and Lexa in this chapter, but they're in the next one!

Unique deflection – Thanks! And what those two have to tell Brennan is a MAJOR twist!

Phoebe turner – Glad you enjoyed it! And your questions will be answered!

Piperfairy – Lol, it is pretty obvious by now isn't it? And Paige will be fine, don't worry!

Princess Pinky – Paige wasn't pregnant because the real Paige had programmed them so they would have the best chance of winning against the simulation, and having a pregnant Paige isn't exactly the best way to win a battle. I know! I'm tempted to bind his power this instant! But I won't although something will be happening to someone else's powers… There isn't much JL stuff in this chapter, but there will be in the next chapter!

Kendallpaigecharity – Thanks! Lol, I meant to confuse people with the simulations!

Phiona – I didn't include glamouring because it's only until recently that the show has remembered she has it for a power. Thanks!

Aniaka – Bring Aidan back? Is that an order? Humph… Lol, I love that tantrum, I usually just bang my head off the keyboard. Lol, I hate that dumpster, Phoebe was right, it is an eyesore! Shalimar will be making an appearance soon, trust me! Ah… violence solves all problems, don't you think? And I don't know what I'm going to call the sequel yet, but it will exist! Don't worry!

**Something Mutated This Way Comes**

Emma hissed through teeth and rubbed her temples as another wave of emotions crashed against her mind, "Give me the damn potion already!" She yelled. Paige waddled down from her kitchen with a steaming mug that she had just poured from a pot on the stove.

"Okay, this should bind your powers temporarily until we can find a permanent fix," She handed the scolding cup to her best friend and she downed it instantly, sighing in relief.

"Ah… that's better," The psionic turned to Paige, "Sorry to be bothering you with all this,"

"Are you kidding? This is great! I've been looking for something to do ever since I went on maternity leave!" She beamed.

"I'm glad to see my pain is bringing you so much joy," Emma replied wryly before yelping in agony and putting down the cup on the coffee table, stopping to rub her temples again.

"You're still getting these hits? But that's the strongest binding potion I've ever made! The next step is stripping them permanently!"

She winced again and doubled over, "If these emotions don't stay out of my mind, then that may be my wish!"

"You know…" Paige began, ignoring her friend's pain, "This is awfully familiar, I had the same sort of trouble when I first became a whitelighter and got a charge. Maybe it's something like that?"

"I'm not whitelighter! Although I do fit the criteria…" She said, before sighing as the pain went away, "I am dead after all,"

The witchlighter frowned, "No, if it was a whitelighter call, your other powers wouldn't be affected. I'll look into it for you," She hugged Emma, "Don't worry; you go to Magic School and try to do your job,"

The potions teacher gave her a look as if she was out of her mind, "What? All those teenage hormones give me a headache even when my empathy isn't stuck on the "on" switch!"

Paige rolled her eyes, "Okay, but I'm going to check this out. You just stay here and try to block out those feelings,"

"What going to leave me here alone? What if my mystery attacker strikes?"

"So… you don't want to be left alone, but you don't won't to go the place where you'll be the safest?" Emma nodded frantically, "Choose, now," The psionic groaned and took her friend's hand, "That's what I thought!" They both orbed out…

* * *

"Please… Just leave me alone!" The thin blonde haired woman crouched into the corner of the warehouse in fear as her attackers advanced on her. They were led by a dark skinned woman wearing a black suit; she smirked as she walked forward.

"Oh, c'mon, you can do better than just scream! Show me what you got!" The woman coaxed.

The blonde girl stood tall, "Alright, but you asked for this!" her eyes flashed mustard yellow before she began to jump around, sticking to each surface that she touched.

"Damn arachnid ferals…" The woman in the black suit cursed as her target clambered around on the ceiling.

"Come and get me!" The blonde was now the one doing the coaxing, as she lowered herself down slightly with a sticky thread growing from her palm, then using the web to pull herself back up. The dark skinned woman clenched her fists and signaled to her henchmen, who brought out guns from their long trench coats and began to fire rapidly. Using her heightened senses and reflexes, the feral was able jump and weave through the support beam that held the building up while managing to dodge bullets at the same time. But her luck ran out when she swung too low and a bullet grazed her arm, making her let go of the sticky vine she was swinging from and fall to the ground.

"Your luck just ran out, spidey…" She smirked at the unconscious form on the floor.

"No, that would be you!" A man's voice came from the top of the building. Everyone looked up to see Brennan descend with clouds of sparks flying from his hands. He landed on the ground, making a soft padding sound as his shoes hit the floor. The gunmen readied to shoot, but Brennan was quicker and propelled himself into the air with his powers and fired two electrical arcs from a safer area, knocking out the two men and leaving the leader by herself.

Brennan jumped back down from the higher ground and stared her down, until she activated her power and began to glow a golden colour. He suddenly realized why she looked so familiar, this was the mutant that had tricked them and tried to steal Connor when he was born.

"Rebecca?" He said in disbelief.

She smirked and lowered her deflective aura, "Brennan… nice to see you again," She began to walk towards him, "How have you been with… Frankie?"

"Phoebe." He replied coldly, "And I have nothing to say to you, you tried to murder my wife and steal my son,"

Her eyes widened, "Wow, so bitter, aren't we?" She twirled her hair, "Can't we just put that in the past? We both know I would have been a way better mother to your child, and a way better partner to you." The mutant said with a smirked as she moved even closer.

There was a sudden whooshing sound and Brennan looked up to see his wife descending quickly with her levitation power and landing not so smoothly next to him. Phoebe placed a well aimed kick in Rebecca's stomach and she stumbled back.

"Why don't you go back to the street corner Ashlocke found you on?" The Halliwell suggested with a cheeky grin.

"Why you…" She growled, running at Phoebe and aiming for a kick on the chest, but the psionic blocked it by crossing her arms in the shape of an X and catching the attack. Rebecca then aimed for a punch; Phoebe grabbed it before it hit her face but she kept her arm going and caused the witch to lose her balance, forcing her to levitate into a horizontal position and land on all fours.

"Aw… C'mon, Frankie. You can better than that, I've seen your file," She smirked as Phoebe returned to her feet.

_My file? _She thought to herself for a second, "It's… Phoebe!" She snarled, firing a light of mental energy from her forehead. Rebecca began to glow golden and the psionic blasted bounced off her and came back at its master. Phoebe quickly ducked and Brennan sprung into action, blasting it with a tesla coil.

"Damn!" She cursed, before running out of the building, leaving her two henchmen behind.

"You guys are so cute, kicking ass as husband and wife…" Phoebe ignited another psionic blast and Brennan's hands sparked with electricity.

"Who's there?" Brennan called out, looking to see where the voice was coming from.

There was a man's laugh, "Relax man," A bright flash caused the couple to shield their eyes from the light and when they turned back, Lexa Pierce and Jesse Kilmartin stood in front of them!

* * *

"You brought an Elder down to help me?" Emma glared heatedly at Sandra.

"Look, Emma, as much as I'd like to help you, I'm too busy here…" Leo began to explain, "Mainly, trying to find someone to cover your classes today!"

"Emma… I know you're not very fond of our kind-," Sandra began.

"Not fond?" The psionic stormed over to a couch in the Magic School Great Hall, "You tried to recycle me when I got a second chance at life!"

"You did what?" Leo questioned his fellow Elder is disbelief.

She sighed, "It was all a misunderstanding,"

"Yeah, one that almost got me killed!" Emma spat.

"Look, like it or not, she's the only one here to help you with your powers," Leo injected, but she clenched her eyes shut and winced in pain, doubling over from the emotions that were slamming her head.

"I can't run the marathon tomorrow if I'm like this!" She exclaimed before sighing, "What the hell… I'll try anything right now," Emma admitted defeat and the Elder smiled.

"I'll take it from here, Leo," She said, letting him orb out to find a replacement teacher.

Sandra turned to the witch and gave her a warm smile, "Something very special is happening to you Emma. You have the chance to do some great things!"

Emma sighed as the pain went away, "What are you talking about?"

"Destiny has put you on an amazing road! It's up to you to follow it!"

She rolled her eyes, "Cut the crap and give me a straight answer," Emma snapped.

"Your powers acting like this is the first sign of then maturing and you being to ready to become an empath!"

"What are you talking about? I'm already an empath!"

Sandra kept smiling and shook her head, "You have the powers, but not the attributes. You see, empaths were originally immortal beings who live on earth, helping those who were in great pain and trouble, but empathy has somehow become a power that witches possess. So, we've had to move with the times and this first sign means you're ready for your first charge,"

The wave of emotions hit her again and Emma winced in agony, "I will try anything! I just want this to stop!"

"Then you need to focus, Emma. Somewhere in the chaos of all those emotions, lies the feeling of your fist charge. You just need to sift through them and find the one that calls out to you the most," Emma gave her a doubtful look, "Right now, you're fighting it, that is what's bringing you pain, not the emotions. If you can concentrate and calm down, you'll find what you're looking for…"

The potions teacher gave Sandra another look before crossing her legs on the sofa and closing her eyes, she concentrated, separating the cloud of emotions and trying to find clarity. It was there Emma found it, the most powerful emotions within the bunch, she could sense that whoever it was on the verge of a breakdown. Her eyes flashed open and she grabbed Sandra's hand, "Orb. Now." The psionic ordered, the Elder smiled in approval and carried them away in a swirl of orbs…

* * *

"Is it true that a teenager under your care is currently a comatose patient and the Memorial?" The social worker asked, she wore a sensible suit and her black hair was in a tight bun. She scribbled down on the clipboard as her colleague inspected the living room that they were sitting in.

"Um… Yeah, is was my-my-my… niece," Piper finally managed to stutter out as she pulled at the cushion that she had her arms wrapped tightly around, "Can I ask what this is all about?"

The woman looked up, her eyes looking Piper up and down from behind her half moon spectacles, "Well, a lot of your neighbours report disturbances. Things like noise and bright light, they make it sound as if you have a non stop party, and add that to the claim that appeared on our desk and you're due for an inspection,"

"Inspection of what?"

"To see if you and your husband are capable of looking after your children," She replied like a drone.

Piper's heart began to pound in her chest, just the thought of losing her children, the thought of them being put in a home, was enough for her to break down instantly. But the witch held her head high; she wasn't going to give these vultures the satisfaction of breaking her down.

"Is this fire damage?" The man who was looking around asked, as he moved the curtain slightly to reveal a scorch mark behind it.

Piper resisted the urge to scream. Of all the places he could look, under the rug, behind the mirror… and he had chosen the place where the demon had thrown a fireball at this morning,

"Okay, that's all folks," She said before outstretching her hands and freezing the two social workers on the spot, "Paige! Paige, I need you. Your nephews are in trouble!" Although it wasn't technically true, Piper knew that that would get her sister moving. Sure enough, the youngest Halliwell sister appeared in a cloud of orbs, immediately feeling queasy as she materialized.

"Ugh… I really need to lay off the orbing," She took a seat, not noticing the two people frozen, "It's making me nauseas every time I do it, but that's what I get for having charges,"

Piper put her hand to her forehead, "Paige… we can talk about your problems later, but mine are frozen and sitting next to you,"

Her sister frowned and looked to her side, "Who's the uptight gal?"

"A social worker…" She said in a cracked voice, "Seeing if I'm capable of being a mother,"

Paige continued to frown at the woman, "That's weird, I work at one of the biggest agencies in town and I've never seen this woman,"

Piper's brow furrowed, "You think they might be demons?"

The witchlighter shrugged, "Posing as a social worker then taking your kids away… sounds like a demon plan to me. You got any lollipops?"

"Um… In the kitchen, sweet jar, the kids usually have something when they come from school,"

"Great! I will be waiting in the kitchen for you!" She began to orb out, when Piper gestured wildly at the man staring at the scorch mark, "Oh…" Paige cringed, before grinning and standing up with the perfect plan in her mind.

"Let the object of objection,

Become but a dream,

As I cause the scene,

To be unseen,"

Blue-white lights covered up the black smudge on the wall, and when they had disappeared, so had the scorch mark. Paige looked extremely proud of herself, "I think you can take it from here!" She orbed out, beaming.

At that moment, the two of them unfroze and the man stared in disbelief at the spot where he was sure he had seen something damning. The woman also frowned at the spot behind the curtain before her colleague let the drape go; they both turned to Piper, who wore an innocent smile,

"I don't see anything…"

* * *

Emma walked down the busy New York street, pushing past all the people that were talking in the opposite direction while looking at the massive buildings that surrounded her. Sandra walked next to her, but instead of the usual Elder attire, she was wearing something that fitted the average woman of what age she looked, the blonde haired woman wore black pants with black high heels while her top half was covered by a thick suede jacket she was wearing, for once, the Elder blended in perfectly.

"How am I supposed to find this woman in all this chaos?" Emma spoke rather loudly so she could be heard.

"The fact that you can tell it's a woman should tell you that you're closer than you think. She's here somewhere," Sandra replied.

The psionic glanced at her angelic companion, "Wow, you Elders should wear normal clothes more often; you're a lot less intimidating that way,"

The Elder looked down at her clothes, "Really? You think we are intimidating in our usual attire?"

Emma let out a chuckle, "Yeah! Who knows what you could be hiding under those robes!" She laughed; even Sandra managed a slight grin.

"It has been some time since I wore mortal clothes…" She seemed to be thinking, "Maybe I shall adopt your way of thinking!"

Emma was about to respond when she felt a strange feeling in the pit of her stomach. She could sense that the woman she was looking for was close and she needed help, any help. Just then, a woman came out of a shop, carrying four large brown paper bags, she had red-brown frizzy hair and had large bags under her eyes, it seemed as if she hadn't slept in days! Some bumped into her on the Manhattan sidewalk and she dropped all of her groceries, making everything fall out onto the ground. Emma was hit with that same feeling and she knew that this woman was the one she had been looking for.

"Here, let me help you…" She offered, bending down and beginning to pick up oranges and jars, things that were close to rolling onto the road.

The woman gave her a grateful smile, "Thank you… not many people would stop,"

"I'm here to help," She replied, looking around for Sandra to see that she had gone. Emma smirked at the fact that the Elder had left, "Yeah, I'm definitely here to help…"

* * *

"What are you guys doing here?" Phoebe took a seat in their living room.

"We came to see our godson!" Jesse grinned at her as he and Lexa sat across from her, "And that we've been hearing about groups catching mutants and… well…" He trailed off, "I think that explains it,"

"Where did Sparky run off to?" Lexa asked with a frown, as her old "frienemy" had left as soon as they had appeared at the warehouse.

"He had to pick up some at the hospital," The psionic looked at her watch, "He should be back soon though. How long are you guys staying?"

The two mutants shared a look, "Um… Probably for about a week, we have to some stuff to take care of and we need to discuss something with Brennan," Lexa explained.

Phoebe cocked her brow, "What about?"

"Just some boring shop talk," Jesse replied quickly while the Charmed One narrowed her eyes. Something about their story didn't fit; she decided to have a little probe about in their minds to see what was really going on. Before she had a chance, the baby monitor began to filter Connor's cries through itself,

"Excuse me for a minute…" She smiled and ran up the stairs just as Brennan walked in the door. The two Mutant X members on the couch shared another glance before calling their friend over.

"Brennan… could we talk to you for a sec?" Lexa asked with a careful tone.

"Uh… sure," He walked over to couch with his hands in his back pockets and sat down, "What's up?" Jesse reached into his jacket and handed his friend a folder, Brennan scanned the front and name "Halliwell, Patricia" was on the front. He frowned at it, wasn't Patricia, Phoebe's mother's full name? "What is this?"

"We stormed an old storage place a while back, and we found all these files from patients at Genomex," Lexa explained, "It says that Patty went in for gene therapy while she was with child, and by the dates on the file, it looks like she was pregnant with Phoebe…"

Jesse then took over, "Adam also said that they pumped her with so much meds that… there was no chance that the baby wasn't affected by the therapy,"

Brennan gave the files a quick scan and stared at the red letters stamped across the paper "Extreme Caution" He looked up to his friends, "Phoebe's a mutant witch?"

Lexa shook her head, "No, a mutant witch is someone who was a mortal before they got their DNA tampered with. Phoebe's a _mutated_ witch; her powers are unstable and unpredictable, growing at least once a month. If she had been mortal before the gene therapy, then she would be just like us, but she's probably more powerful than us and her sisters combined!"

"That's a good thing, right?" Brennan suggested, "It means she can take care of most of the demons that attack,"

Jesse gave him a pitiful look, "It's highly doubtful that she would be able to keep control of all of her powers. They could overpower her and eventually lead to her self-destruction,"

He groaned and shook his head vigorously, "No, if Phoebe had all these powers, how would she hide them from us, me?"

"She hid her Charmed status from us for a long time, do you not remember that?" Lexa chipped in, Brennan knew she was right but he didn't want to admit it.

"Hey!" Phoebe beamed as she walked down the stairs with Connor, not noticing her husband slip the file behind a cushion, "I think he just sensed his godparents here and wanted a little visit!" She smiled again, but this time she noticed Brennan's hurt expression, "Honey, what's wrong?"

"Oh… Nothing," He smiled, moving over slightly to let Phoebe sit down and to cover up the folder.

As he watched her play with his son, Brennan found it unbelievable might lose control of her powers and fight against them. She smiled with so much joy as she watched Lexa hold Connor awkwardly, he just couldn't let his wife become, a monster, some capable of harming their son.

He wouldn't…

* * *

Emma put the mug of coffee next to Janice, the woman she had helped on the street; she had also helped her charge back to her apartment with the groceries, not to mention paying the babysitter for her child. Janice had felt that making a cup of coffee for the kind stranger would be a way to thank her, but Emma had insisted on doing that too.

"Thank you for all your help…" The tired woman rubbed the back of her neck, "Although I still don't understand why you helped,"

Emma rubbed her coffee mug, "Um… I don't know, I just wanted to help…" She said sheepishly.

"Well…" She stood up and went over to her two year old son on the floor playing the toy blocks, "I'm glad you were there,"

She was suddenly hit with an empathic wave, she could sense that this woman felt so lost, as if she was drowning in her life and didn't know where to start to make things better. Emma was determined to fix this, mostly to stop her powers from acting up, but also just to help this poor woman.

"He's beautiful," She smiled at the toddler playing on the carpet.

"Thanks, his father split when he found out I was pregnant." She looked at her son lovingly, "But even with everything that's gone on in my life, he's still the best thing that's ever happened to me… Aren't you, Tom?" She grinned and tickled her boy's cheek, he giggled in response.

"How are things right now?"

The woman stood up and sighed, "Tight. I lost my job last week and I've had to break into Tom's college fund just to get by…"

"Oh no…" Emma said sympathetically, "How?"

"Because Tom had a fever and I was worried about him. I want to find another job, it's just hard… I don't have time for interviews and things are tough with a kid and all,"

The witch mulled it over for a while, "Okay, here's what we'll do. Do you have today's paper?" She nodded in response, "We'll circle some jobs that you think you could do and we'll take it from there,"

"I don't know, Emma…" Janice folded her arms.

"Janice, you're not alone anymore… I'm here to help you!"

She woman looked Emma straight in the eye, "Who _are_ you?"

"I'm a friend…" She replied simply…

* * *

"Okay Mrs. Halliwell, we'll be in touch." The social worker said as Piper politely ushered them out of her home.

"Okay, you drive safely now, goodbye!" She closed the door, "Don't ever come back…" The witch muttered. Paige's head popped out from the kitchen doorway, she played with the lollipop in her mouth.

"Is it safe for me to come out now?"

Piper rolled her eyes, "Children stealing bastards are gone," She said cheerfully.

It was the witchlighter's turn to roll her eyes, "Piper… They really do have the kid's best interests at heart, but I agree, you are a great Mom and whoever doesn't think so should be shot,"

"Here here!" She raised an imaginary glass of wine before turning her head upwards, "I could really use some support from my husband right now!" Piper yelled, stomping her foot and making the ground shake with her power by accident.

Paige regained her balance after the tremor her sister had caused with her anger, "Piper, as one of the children stealing bastards, I can tell you that bringing your house down when you're pissed is not a good thing,"

The eldest sister sighed in frustration and began to climb the stairs, "Leo!" She called again and again as she made her way to the attic, hoping that something would help her in the nightmare that was unraveling before her. Just as she went to open the Book, Paige orbed in and slammed her hand down firmly on the cover, "What are you doing?"

"Stopping you from making this situation worse!" Paige argued.

"What are you talking about?" Piper put a defiant hand on her hip.

"Isn't it obvious that this is a backfire to your "To Reach a Compromise" spell? Piper, you have to stop using magic like this! Or it might end up taking away your children in a way you won't be able to get them back!"

She seemed to think about it for a while, before realizing how she had been acting. Killing the plants, using spells, she had frozen Mrs. Noble more than anything I her life lately and even Piper could see that a pattern was forming, "I'm sure one more spell won't hurt…" She went for the book, but Paige grabbed it.

"If you're going to be like this, then I have no choice!" She orbed out, leaving Piper without the magical tome…

* * *

Emma paced the red metal of the Golden Gate Bridge, occasionally looking out to the horizon where she could see ships coming in to the harbour and the summer sun dipping underneath the line that separated sky and sea. Lights lit up the area momentarily as Sandra orbed in, now clad in her Elder clothing, "Are your powers back to normal?"

"Yes," Emma responded stiffly.

"And how did things go with your charge?"

She folded her arms, "Janice had got a couple of job interviews lined up and a cheap babysitter. I built the foundations; it's up to her now,"

The Elder raised her eyebrows, "You can show that much restraint to a suffering woman?"

"Well, like you said, empaths aren't a constant in their charge's lives, they move on after they feel their work in done, and I feel that mine is…"

Sandra smiled, "You show great potential to be a great empath! Knowing when to leave your charge's life is a vital key to being one of many who work making the world a better place,"

"Wait a minute, I never asked for this! I have a boyfriend, a job and friends! I don't have time for empath charges!"

"Well, you seemed to have managed fine today!" Sandra extended her hand and a stream of pinky rose orbs flew from her palm, hitting Emma in the chest and making her glow with the same pink colour, "We'll be in touch Emma. I'll leave you to get down yourself, as you can now orb…" She smirked before leaving in a dazzle of blue-white lights. Emma looked around awkwardly before scrunching up her eyes nervously and leaving in a cloud of light pink orbs…

* * *

Brennan stared at his sleeping wife in the bed, she was beautiful. Her long brunette locks lay splayed on her pillow while some of them sat perfectly on her face, covering over her right eye as she turned to the side in her sleep. He had slipped the potion into her wine at dinner, so he knew that he had to act fast before it wore off.

He got up from the bed carefully, making sure to disturb Phoebe as he reached under the bed and pulled out a piece of paper and a medium sized glass jar that was shaped like a fish bowl. Brennan crept to the bottom of the bed and held out the piece of paper in front of him while holding the jar up high.

"Powers of the witches rise,

Course unseen across the skies,

Come to us, who call you near,

Come to us and settle here,"

He whispered the spell under his breath, but when Phoebe's sleeping form began to glow, he knew it had worked, little balls of light began to fly from her body as she slept on, not realizing all the light that was pouring from her body and into the jar. Brennan watched in amazement, he never knew that Phoebe had contained such power inside of her! That was the only explanation for how long this was taking. The lights finally stopped the jar's top closed with a snapping noise, making the Charmed One stir slightly. Brennan quickly put the spell and jar under the bed and clambered back in, letting her roll over and cast her left arm over his chest, he pulled her in closer and she smiled in her sleep. She remained oblivious to the fact that her very own husband had just stripped her of her powers…

* * *

**NEXT TIME:** Rebecca teams up with a good turned evil being and causes trouble for the Halliwells as they cheer for Emma in the marathon, but they don't end their rampage there, as the duo infect Paige with a demonic parasite. The sister's quickly expel it, but what effect has it had on the six month pregnant witch? Phoebe tries to hide the fact that her powers seem to be gone, as she has no leads, and will someone return to save the day?

Chapter 15 **"Double, Double, Twins In Trouble!"** should be up soon!


	15. Double, Double, Twins In Trouble!

_Okay, as you know, I pull out all the stops for finales and birth chapters, and I think I've did a pretty food job on this one! The start of it is just really fluffy stuff; the action kicks off eventually though!_

Aniaka – Trust me, Phoebe is going to be PISSED! Lol, do you want a set of pink orbs? I hope you like this one! Emma orbs again! And we don't want Piper to lose her kids, so I think she'll need to cool off a bit

Princess Pinky – Lol, pretty big twists, eh? I know, Piper's never really had a wild side on the show, I think its good to show her naughty side! I'm glad you liked that line! I know you're a big fan of JL, so there's more in his chapter for you! I know, what are the writers smoking these days? Lol, the pink orbing seems to be popular!

Kendallpaigecharity – I know, I love twists! And I'm glad you thought the line was funny! I hope you enjoy this chapter!

Phoebe turner – I don't know… I'm not really a big fan of Cole; he was sorta aimless in season 5

Prince Halliwell – It's not Shalimar, I can tell you that. And Emma wasn't brought back to be an emapth, the reason for her second chance will be made clear eventually. And of course I don't mind, it's only a colour, after all!

Andy20 – All your questions will be answered eventually! And welcome back! Is your comp virus free now?

Ravenix – Hmm… Phoebe isn't going to become a demon, put you're right about the anger effecting her; you'll need to wait and see!

Unique deflection – Yeah, I have names for the kids, but I'm going to let Paige ponder over what to call them for a while! And yes, there will be a sequel and I will let you know when I have a title.

Piperfairy – I know! Go and run them out of town! How dare they accuse Piper of being a bad parent!

**Double, Double, Twins In Trouble!**

The Wyatts stood on the sidewalk, Piper stood with her eldest son in her arms, pointing out all the things that could be seen in the street, things that only a five year old would find interesting. Leo stood next to his wife with Chris sitting on his shoulders, so he could see all the runners stretching and preparing at the starting line.

"Where's Auntie Emma?" Wyatt asked, confused as Emma had came with them but had disappeared soon after.

"There!" Chris suddenly blurted out, pointed into the crowed from his high perch on his father's shoulders.

"I wanna see!" The eldest child grinned. Leo smiled at his son and made sure Chris was holding on tight before he lifted up Wyatt to see past all the participants. Emma was doing a series of stretches, she put her foot on top of a fire hydrant and pushed her leg down before putting one arm across her chest and pushing it inwards.

"Hey!" A voice called out to them, Phoebe and Brennan walked over to the foursome, Connor sleeping soundly in the stroller, even with all the noise surrounding him.

"Hi," Piper smiled before grinning at her nephew in the stroller, "Hey baby!" She whispered, "He's so cute when he's sleeping!"

"Yeah, let's try and keep him what way…" Her brother in law advised with a smirk before his son awoke from his slumber, a gurgle escaping from his mouth, "Too late," But to his surprise, Connor stayed silent and spent the time being wide eyed and taking in his surroundings.

"Where are Jesse and Lexa?" Leo asked, they had all been introduced during the week.

"Getting food, and knowing Jesse, it'll be a lot!" Phoebe interjected before looking around with a frown, "Where's Paige?"

Piper cocked her head slightly, "She went back home to get some sunglasses… her eyes have been sensitive to everything lately,"

"Is she okay?" Phoebe asked as she lifted Connor from his chair and began to bounce him in her arms slightly.

"I don't think so; she would tell us if something was wrong though. If there was any chance of it hurting the kids, she wouldn't keep it a secret," Leo pointed out with a calm expression

"I hope so…" She responded, before noticing Emma jogging over to them, the psionic jogged on the spot even when she reached the two families.

"Guys…" She began, before looking upwards, as if she had heard something, "In a minute!" She yelled heavenwards, causing other spectators to stare. Piper and Phoebe smiled at people the before signaling to them politely to turn their heads back the street.

"What is it?" Leo asked as he lifted Chris off his shoulders to let his son go and see Emma.

"The Elders are telling me I need to go see one of my charges, right now!" She relayed urgently, before looking upwards and muttering something under her breath, "You guys know how long I've been training for this! I can't leave now!"

"I'll take care of it for you," Phoebe immediately offered, "I'm an empath too, after all," no one noticed Brennan shift uneasily on the spot as she said this.

The empath bit her lip, "I don't know… He's my charge, and-,"

"Leo can glamour me to look like you. C'mon Emma, you've been training like, four months for this! It shouldn't be ruined by the impeccable timing of the Elders," She rolled her eyes.

She sighed, "Okay… But you need to tell me everything that has been said afterwards!"

The middle sister nodded excitedly, she was quite taken with the thought of meeting one of Emma's charges…

* * *

A cloud of rose coloured orbs descended from the sky along with a smaller cloud of blue ones, Emma and Phoebe appeared from the pinkness while Leo appeared from the baby blue haze. The Charmed One smiled as they landed, turning to her friend.

"Wow… I love empath orbing! It's so pretty!" Phoebe looked at her sleeves, hoping to catch any remnants of the way they had traveled.

Emma grinned in response, "Me too, Paige hates me for it though. She keeps complaining every time I orb to her place, she's just jealous though!"

Leo cleared his throat to get their attention, "Emma, I thought you wanted to get back to the marathon?"

"Oh… right," She smiled nervously as she looked around the alleyway they were standing before seeing what she was looking for, "See that bookstore across the street? It's the clerk at the desk, life's been beating him up a bit lately, he really just needs someone to vent to,"

Phoebe looked across the street and saw a teenage boy, probably around Pamela's age, standing at the desk. He wore such a defeated expression on his face, not to mention his skin had been ravaged by acne. She looked at the boy with pity when she saw other kids laughing at him from outside.

"Can you handle it?" Emma asked.

"Sure, glamour me!" Phoebe turned to her brother in law, who prepared to wave his hand over her face, until a woman flamed in, who the middle Halliwell immediately recognized as Rebecca, the woman who had tried to kidnap Connor!

"What the hell are you doing here?" Phoebe questioned, her voice lined with hate.

"Killing the competition!" She answered, throwing out a fireball, which made the Charmed One confused. Fireballs weren't part of Rebecca's powers, how had she ended up with them? Phoebe quickly tried to use her telempathy to redirect the attack, her eyes widened when it didn't work. Determined to take her down, Phoebe narrowed her eyes and attempted to ignite a psionic blast, her heart skipped a beat, that power didn't work either!

Before she could use her telepathy to tap unto her opponent's powers and cancel out the fireball with her own fireball, it struck her chest, sending Phoebe into the side of a wire fence.

"Paige!" Emma called, "Bring someone to help!" She fired a psionic blast to keep the deflective mutant busy as Leo healed Phoebe, but she had to duck when her attack rebounded and came back at her. Paige appeared moments later with Piper,

"Okay, what is going-," She was cut off as a burst of orbs erupted as her stomach and shielded the two witches from another fireball, "Fireball!" The witchlighter yelled, taking the newly conjured fireball from Rebecca's hand in a swaddle of orbs and throwing it back at her. The mutant glowed as she activated her own power, making the attack bounce off her chest and come back at Paige, who was protected yet again by a shield of orbs. Piper quickly gestured at a nearby wall and the remains of bricks flew at Rebecca, blasting her to the ground and hitting her with a rain of concrete.

The youngest Charmed One stood there while her oldest sister went to check on Phoebe, she stared at the enemy as she pulled out a jar.

"See if you can handle this!" She smashed the jar on the ground a small insect flew out, zipping right to Paige and glowing as it entered her chest, making her lose her balance slightly and cough. The mutant smirked before flaming out of the battle.

Emma came over to her pregnant friend and rubbed her back, "Are you okay?"

Paige frowned in response, "I don't know…"

* * *

Rebecca flamed back into an old warehouse, pleased with the work she had done. She began to walk across the floor and towards the shadows, creating a fireball and bouncing it in her hand, "Thanks for the power share; I was able to survive against all three thanks to you,"

"And now it's time to give that power back," A woman's voice came out from the darkness. Rebecca began to glow as the power boost she had received was taken from her; she pouted and folded her arms.

"I have one question, you're supposed to be on their side, so what do you hope to gain by stopping the birth of those twins?"

The figure stepped out of the shadows, revealing that the woman was Danielle, the Fire Elemental! Her red hair looked dark, even with sun pouring in through the roof,

"I stop someone from receiving powers that they shouldn't receive," She replied coldly.

"What do you mean? If I am to help you, I think I have a right to know…" Rebecca smirked, but her smugness vanished when a fireball appeared in Danielle's hand,

"I don't need to tell you anything! Getting rid of these kids is in everyone's best interest, trust me!" She clenched her fist and snuffed the flames, "But if you must know… Elemental powers can only be given through the Earth Elemental, and in extreme cases when he is dead, the other three find a replacement. If these kids are born, they will receive Elemental powers, which undermine the very grand design, I can't have that!" She stated, the horns from her true Elemental form sprouting from her head, before she took a deep breath and calmed down.

"So what's the next step?"

"We wait for the parasite to take effect…' She smirked as she sat down, "She'll have no idea what hit her…"

* * *

Jesse smiled as took a hot dog of the vender on the sidewalk; everyone was getting ready to watch the runners begin the marathon. The others had returned, bar Phoebe as she had gone to help Emma's charge disguised as her. The molecular was about to hand over the money when Lexa came up behind him and gave the hot dog back to the vender, "He's had enough of that stuff. Don't want those love handles getting any bigger now, do we?" She smirked and kissed his the back of his neck, before cheekily squeezing his hips.

Jesse's face went completely red and he yanked the hot dog back and handed over ten dollars, not even waiting for the change as he wanted to get away from the sniggering vender as quickly as possible, "What that really needed?"

"Aw… C'mon, hot stuff. I was only joking… Your love handles are already too big!" She laughed at his awkwardness before walking along the sidewalk, "C'mon, you're not going to let a little girl like me walk along the street by herself, are you?"

He rolled his eyes and caught up to her; she took some of the food from his hand and took his free hand in hers, this surprised Jesse, "Public displays of affection? I guess anything really _can_ happen in San Francisco!"

"Hey, I'm the one who cracks the jokes in this relationship," She warned mockingly, "And besides, am I not allowed to ridicule my boyfriend then comfort him with a little hand holding?"

"Well, I might as well enjoy it while it lasts, since we're keeping a secret from everyone else, we might want to break contact before we head back,"

"Good point," She began to walk away, but he pulled her back, pulling her into a passionate that everyone could see, a mother even went as far as covering her child's eyes. Lexa pulled away completely stunned, Jesse just smiled.

"You can crack the jokes, I'll do the passion," He growled huskily before smacking her ass and walking away with a smirk. Lexa took a bit of her hair and began to bite it like a nervous schoolgirl to hide her giddiness, she noticed all the people staring at her so sent them a warning glare and walked away, checking her lip gloss in a shop window on the way…

* * *

"Okay!" Jesse announced as he walked back to the group with food and drink, "Tortillas and a low fat dip to go with?"

"That's mine!" Piper spoke up, taking her food from the cardboard tray and tucking in.

"Hot dog with extra mustard?"

"I'll take that," Leo said with a grin before taking a bite.

Jesse looked at the next item, "Mint flavoured ice cream?"

Paige instantly reached over, "Mine!" Giggling like a little girl as she stuck her spoon into the light green mound.

"Where's the other stuff?" Brennan seeing that his friend had arrived without his chicken sub.

The molecular look behind him, "Um… Lexa has it, she just behind me, I wonder where she went,"

"She took a little detour to get some more stuff!" Lexa said as she walked over to them and pass the crowd, "Take your sub, Sparky," She held out the cardboard tray and Brennan grinned, taking the sandwich off, "Chicken salad for me!" Lexa said triumphantly, stuffing the plastic bowl with a lid under her arm. She glanced at Piper, who nodded and smiled. Lexa knelt down to Wyatt and Chris's eye level, "You don't think I'd forget about you two, did I?" She lowered the tray to reveal two ice cream cones with chocolate sprinkles sitting on it. The two kids grinned as they took their treats off the tray and licked the cold sweet.

Piper mouthed "Thank you," to her new friend before they all turned their attention to the starting line, where it was all about to begin.

And not just the marathon…

* * *

Leo turned another burger on he barbeque while Brennan and Jesse offered advice on making sure things not getting burnt. Lexa found it so strange that when it came to cooking in a kitchen, men thought a woman should do it, what made cooking on a grill and fire so manly. The woman weren't complaining though, as it gave them time to gossip.

"Paige, take those shades off, the sun is about to set. If you keep them on any longer you're verging on diva status," Lexa advised her new friend, they had become quite close in one week, what was it about Paige that made the Mutant X girls so easy to befriend?

"Very funny," She glared from behind her sunglasses, "And no, I'm more comfortable like this, my eyes have been feeling funny all day, I don't know what it is,"

"Emma's just got out of the shower so we can eat soon," Piper announced as she brought out a couple of bowls of cold dishes.

"She came one hundred and forty first out of about six hundred people, she better be proud of herself," Paige warned.

The witchlighter took a moment to look at her nephews, Chris was slowly climbing up the ladder of the slide so he could go back down again, while Wyatt pushed Connor in baby swing, he was under strict orders got to push too much. Paige smiled and shook her head, how could she have even thought of having an abortion? She would have missed out on moments like this she might have in a couple years time. But when she saw how Piper and Phoebe looked at their children, she didn't want her kids to grow up too fast, Connor was already six months old and Phoebe just couldn't believe how time flew by.

"Oh, here she is, the jewel of the San Francisco Marathon!" Piper grinned at Emma, who was coming out of the back door and into the garden to join them at the large garden table, "I know you've had a tiring day, but could you go get Phoebe?"

"No problem, orbing isn't exactly strenuous!" She wiggled her eyebrows before disappearing in a haze of rosy pink orbs. Paige scowled at the place her friend had sat,

"I wish that when you get the power to orb, they show you a colour chart and you can choose the colour you want,"

"They do," Leo chipped in, "But most whitelighters just go with the traditional blue,"

"Are you kidding me?" She gaped at her brother in law, "I could have been flying about in the style of pink orbs and nobody told me?" She folded her arms over her pregnant stomach and pouted.

"You couldn't actually," He pointed out to her, "Pink orbs are the trademark of empaths, whitelighters can't choose them,"

"Ugh… I won't dwell on it; I'll move on and accept." She took a deep breath, "Okay, I'm good!"

"That was quick," Lexa mused.

"I'm not one to waste time being sad…" Paige smirked, "Someone want to pass that glass, please?"

Piper went to pick it up, but before she could, water consumed the glass from the base and it disappeared, reappearing in Paige's hand in a tower of water.

"What the hell was that?" Piper pointed at the glass in Paige's hand.

"I… don't know," The witchlighter stared at her hand.

"Maybe it was one of the babies?" Piper suggested.

"You think it's a variation of my power?"

She shrugged "Makes sense. Telekinetic Splashing… looks like she takes after both of her parents," Piper seemed to frown a bit at the use of power, but she quickly forgot when two Emmas appeared in the lawn in pink orbs.

"Okay, change me back Leo," one of the Emmas said, the Elder laughed and waved his hand at her, making her turn back into Phoebe.

"Phew!" She smelled the food and rubbed her hands together, "Let's eat!"

* * *

Paige sat in the love seat at the window of the attic; she had the Book of Shadows balanced on the top of her stomach as she read. Emma came in, she seemed to be looking for something, as she was lifting every jar, cushion and table to find it, "Hey, have you seen my comlink?"

"Your what?" Paige looked confused.

The psionic sighed, "Uh… The silver ring with the little holes in it,"

"No, it'll probably be in your room. But I don't live here anymore so I don't where you your holy jewelry,"

"You're probably right," She walked over to see what her friend was looking at, "Demon parasites? Taking a sudden interest in bugs?" She smirked.

"No… that Rebecca bitch, sent one at me and I would like to be rid of it,"

"What? Why didn't you tell us?"

"Because I didn't want you to worry! Look, I've found the spell; I can say it and be flea free!"

Emma folded her arms, "No, I'll say it. Paige, you're pregnant! We're looking after _you_ and making sure _you_ don't worry, not the other way around,"

She rolled her eyes in response, "If one more person uses that as an excuse to keep me out the action, I will-," She stopped mid sentence and gripped her stomach, taking deep breaths.

"Are you okay?" Emma went to her and rubbed her back.

"Yeah, I'm fine, just… say the spell," Paige urged, moving the Book of Shadows so her friend could see it. Emma still wasn't convinced, it had seemed something more than nothing, but less than a demon, but she decided to shake it off for now and say the spell,

"I use this spell, to mend what's not right,

To rid this body, of its parasite"

There was a glow from pages stomach and a speck of black flew out, writhing in the air before exploding into tiny pieces. Emma rubbed Paige's back again, "Are you feeling better?"

"Yeah, much," Was the witchlighter's reply, "I think I'm just gonna head home now," And with that, she orbed out, letting the Book of Shadows fall to the chair…

* * *

Pamela's spirit sat in the hospital room, she had her legs crossed on the chair next to her real body and little drops if light were flowing from her spirit and into the corporeal form lying in the bed. A smile played on her lips as she realized it was working, that was, until a nurse came in to check on her and broke her concentration.

"Damn!" She glared at the nurse, even though she couldn't be seen by her, "Betty, I thought we talked about this? You stay out of my room, and I don't kick your ass when I wake up!"

Of course, the nurse just kept working, checking all the machines and grimacing at the state of Pamela's hair before leaving. Pamela wished she could use her powers and just break down the magical prison she was in, but she would need to keep up her efforts. It was like when you download a file off the internet, it takes ages, its likely to fail, and…

You're stupid enough to try again…

* * *

Piper came into the attic to find Emma still looking for her comlink. It may have been just a ring to everyone else, but to the mutant psionic, it was a lot more important, it was a symbol of where she had come from and how far she had come, "You haven't found that thing yet?"

Emma shot her a look, "It's not just a thing! Please say you haven't put the laundry in the washer yet, because that's where I was going to look next,"

"Uh… no, I-,"

"Found it!" The psionic shouted triumphantly, smiling at the silver ring and putting it on. Piper didn't notice a wave of light pass over it as it went on Emma's finger.

"Why is the book over there?" The eldest Halliwell pointed to the book that was sitting on the window ledge.

"Oh… Paige was looking at it," She answered absent mindedly

Piper narrowed her eyes at the page it was open at, "Demonic parasites? Did Paige want a flea bath?"

"No… Rebecca hit her with one when we fought her this afternoon. We got rid of it though,"

"This specific breed of parasite is used to speed up the aging process. It increases the growth rate of its victims metabolism and makes them age until they die," Piper read from the book, "It says that someone can age a month in two hours!"

Emma stopped looking at her comlink and went pale, "What did you say? The bit before the two months part,"

"That is speeds up the metabolism of the victim?"

"That would mean everyone _in_ the body, wouldn't it?"

She scrunched up her nose, "I guess…" Piper answered uncertainly, not knowing where this was going.

"What time is it?" Emma looked at her wrist, realizing she didn't have a watch.

Piper looked down at her watch, "A little after ten. Emma, what's wrong?"

"The race started at three thirty… Paige… that stomach pain… oh my God!" She suddenly blurted out.

"What? What's the matter?"

"Get everyone together, I'll go get Paige," She began to orb out.

"Why?" Piper shouted

"Because the twins are coming now!"

* * *

Paige lay on her bed, screaming as another contraction hit her body, she couldn't do this alone, yet she couldn't reach the phone and for some reason she couldn't orb or call for Leo. Her spirits lifted slightly when she saw pink light appear in the room and take the form of Emma, "Oh my God! Honey, why didn't you orb out?"

"I… can't" She breathed out through the pain before another contraction hit her.

"That's right, and now, neither can you!" Emma turned around to see you had spoken, her fists immediately clenched when she saw Rebecca standing there with a smug look on her face.

"What is it with you and wanting to steal the kids of this family?" Emma spat, Paige smiled slightly at the word "family"

"Sorry, but I'm working for someone on this one. And for the record, I want Brennan; his kid was just a way to make him mine,"

"Take my hand," The psionic whispered to the witchlighter, she complied and Emma orbed them out of the way of a fireball. Rebecca looked astounded, suddenly doubting the power of the shield she had put around the apartment to safe everyone in. The reappeared behind her and Emma fired off a warning psionic blast, making Rebecca fall to the ground in pain instead of flying through the air and into wall, "We may not be able to leave the apartment, but we can still go around it! Catch us if you-," She didn't get to finish her cocky remark as a fireball pounded her back and sent her flying through the window, landing on the balcony unconscious. Paige took great effort to turn around and looked at Danielle in horror when she realized that she had been the one to throw the fireball.

"Why?" Paige breathed out before screaming in pain.

Rebecca got up, groaning while holding her head, "Psychic bitch…" She growled.

"Ignore her, go to the cave and act as the decoy, the demon are waiting for you," The Fire Elemental ordered, the mutant scowled before flaming out, leaving Paige with no one…

* * *

Orbs and a bright flash of light lit up the cave as Leo and Lexa transported everyone else. Lexa had Jesse and Brennan while Leo had Piper and Phoebe. The eldest Halliwell took immediate action, her face like thunder, Phoebe was amazed at how protective and close her big sister had become to Paige during her absence.

"I know you're here! Let Paige go NOW!" She boomed, activating her power and causing the room to shake. As she did that, five demons shimmered in to her left, Piper instantly shot out her hand, an orange shockwave flying from her palm and distorting gravity around the demons so it would pull them apart. They all screamed as their limbs flew off their torsos and they all blew up.

Phoebe just gaped at her sister's display of power, "What the hell was that?" Piper didn't answer, "Okay, how do you even know she's here?"

"When have you known our scrying to be off?"

"Well…"

"It was a rhetorical question!" She snapped, advancing into the cave.

"Aw… Crap, I think we need to split up," Phoebe suggested.

Leo nodded, "I agree, we need to widen our horizons, if we waste time, our only nieces could be in danger," His sister in law nodded in agreement.

"Um… Okay, I'll go with Pheebs and Sparky," Lexa began, "Piper seems to have no trouble handling herself and I think having a psionic might help our chances,"

"Yeah…" Phoebe replied, she wasn't even sure if her powers, once again no one noticed Brennan's uncomfortable shift.

"Okay then, I'll stay here, in case I need to take an energy ball for someone," Jesse chipped in. Everyone nodded at the plan and Phoebe went towards her husband and old teammate, flashing out instantly while Jesse and Leo followed Piper deeper into the cavern…

* * *

Paige's brow was swimming with sweat as she shook on the couch, wincing at the agony of another contraction. She refused to scream, she wasn't going to give Danielle the satisfaction, but she also wasn't going to let her get away with this either, "Why… are doing this?" She whispered to the elemental, who was pacing the room.

"Having the powers of an elemental isn't something you're born with; it's something that chooses you. It's not fair that your kids should be born with it, when the many others before them have worked hard to be worthy. You and your family have undermined the magical community for the last time,"

Paige gritted her teeth, "What the hell gives you the right?"

Danielle fished inside her blouse and pulled out a pendent made of red metal, a dragon engraving shone in the moonlight, "This gives me the right! A symbol of my power!"

The witchlighter glared at her, letting a small yelp as pain went through her body, "Skye is…. a born…. Elemental… why not… kill her?"

She smirked in response, "Who do you think is next on my list?"

* * *

Lexa went to open the door to Paige's building, but the door shone with an orange glow and blasted her back onto the sidewalk, landing hard on her ass, "Ow!" She yelped, getting back up and brushing off her black pants.

"It must be protected…" Brennan mused, looking to the top floor where Paige's apartment was.

"You think?" The light molecular replied sarcastically, "What are we gonna do?"

"Try blasting it," Phoebe offered as she looked around the street, "No one can see us right now,"

Her husband and charged up his hands with electricity, "You in?" He raised an eyebrow to Lexa, who smirked and emitted light from her fingertips. Both mutants blasted the door with their respective powers, they kept it up until their blasts fizzled out, the door remained intact.

"Well… It's definitely protected," Lexa took heavy breaths, that had taken a lot.

"You think?" Brennan mimicked her, he received a glare.

"Can I have a go?"

Phoebe turned around to see who had spoken. She almost jumped for joy when she saw Pamela standing at the street corner. Her arms were folded confidently and saw more a look on her face that verged on arrogance.

"Oh my God…" The aunt breathed.

Her niece grinned, but it was quickly snuffed when a piece of her long hair moved in front of her eyes, "Damn! I would have settled for someone taking a pair of scissors to it, but no, you couldn't even do that!"

"She's back…" Brennan murmured, knowing full well of his niece's rants.

"Although I have to admit, kudos to the person who left me clothes at the hospital, or I would be sitting here with a breeze up my hospital gown."

Phoebe rolled her eyes, "Pam, we don't have time! Paige has gone into labor!"

She looked stunned, "I haven't been out for that long, have I?"

"No. We don't have time to explain! Do you think you can break through this force field?"

Pamela snorted and cocked her head, "Have I ever ran from the cops after inflating a car's tires so much that they exploded?" They gave her a blank look, "The answer is yes," She moved in front of the doors and prepared.

"I like her wit," Lexa commented, "Very much like my own…" She mused.

"Sarcastic and bitchy?" Phoebe offered.

"Exactly."

The teen raised her arms at the door, releasing wave after wave of advanced telekinetic energy at it. The force field glowed angrily, as if challenging the witch as she pounded the door with energy. Phoebe gasped when she saw a crack in the glass, "Keep it up!"

At that moment, Piper, Leo and Jesse orbed in, Piper obviously fuming from the fact that they had been tricked, "It was a damn… Pam?" She finally noticed her niece. The glass smashed at that moment, taking the shield with it.

"Eureka! I've cracked it!" She turned around to see if anyone laughed, "Hey, gimme a break, I'm just out of a coma! I need to find some new material,"

"Pam…" Piper said in a warning tone.

"Some things never change…"

* * *

"It's almost time…" Danielle growled, moving over to Paige as she began the final steps of labor, giving birth. The witchlighter had tried everything, but her powers weren't working, probably from the shield that had been generated, and Danielle had made sure to remove any objects from Paige's reach.

"Please…" She reduced herself to begging, "Don't take them… take me instead…"

The elemental snorted, "You're not the one I'm after, it's your kids,"

Just as she was about to prepare herself, when the door was blasted off its hinges and the entire family stood there, all of them had faces like thunder as they realized who was behind the force field. Piper went to blast the elemental, but she flamed out wisely, even she knew that she wouldn't be able take on six witches, one elder, and, as they appeared from sand and wind, her two elemental comrades.

"What are you guys doing here?" Emma, who had finally awoke from being knocked out,said stiffly, she was angry at Grant for missing the marathon for work.

"Are you kidding me?" Skye gestured to where Danielle had stood, "She's gone off the deep end! We have to stop her!"

Everyone's attention was brought back to Paige when she screamed in agony, "I feel like I'm gonna explode!" She bellowed.

"Uh… Okay, me and Pam will go with those two and take down Danielle. Everyone else, make sure my goddaughters are brought into the world safely." Emma smiled at her best friend before taking Grant's hand and sanding out. Skye put a hand on the other teenager's shoulder and they left in a gust of wind…

* * *

The foursome reappeared with sand at their feet, Emma frowned at their location, it was a little island in the middle of the ocean, she could hear the trees rustling in the wind and waves lapping at the shore. Nothing but water could be seen for miles. "Are you sure this where you sensed her?"

"Yeah, definitely. She can't bounce her signal, we're connected by-," Skye's explanation was cut off by a blood curdling roar in the sky. They looked up and ducked when a large mass flew over their heads. Emma gasped when she recognized it instantly; this was Danielle's elemental form! The once serene ruby red dragon was now a raging monster, its scales burning with rage in the moonlight. It let out another roar, its mouth glowing as it filled with fire, it was going to shoot!

"Grant!" Skye screamed as the jet of flames shot the dragon's mouth.

Emma and Pamela shut their eyes and cringed, waiting for the flames to hit them. But something blocked the light coming from the fire and the two witches opened their eyes to see a giant stone figure standing in front of them, taking the attack in the chest. The creature was like giant lumbering man made of stone, his fists were huge, as where his feet, Emma watched in amazement as it picked the largest boulder on the beach and threw it with incredible speed and distance at the dragon, hitting it square in the scaly chest.

There was a squawk and they turned around to see a massive bird flying through the sky towards its opponent, its white wings catching the dim light and shimmering across the land. But the majestic creature soon turned into a ferocious bird and began to flap its wings furiously at the dragon, Emma felt a wind pick up and Pamela noticed clouds coming towards them at an amazing speed, it was creating a thunder storm!

"Someone tell me what is going on!" Pamela screamed over the now howled wind, cringing when a stone hand just skimmed her head to reach for another boulder throw.

"I would say the fight of the elements has begun!" Emma shouted back. It was true; all three had taken their true forms with every intention of killing one another. This truly going to be one big battle, "I think we should get out of here!"

"Why? What if they need us?" The teen responded, cursing loudly when her hair blew into her face.

"I'm _not_ letting you go up against that thing!" Emma ordered, her voice stern.

The two of them shrieked as Skye flew over them, a stream of fire close behind as her as Danielle followed. Grant was now resorting to picking up piles of smaller rocks and throwing them together, as he had thrown all of the big boulders, some had made contact, and some hadn't. This time however, the rain of stones hit the dragon and she stopped, turning around to face her attacker. She hovered above the witches and the earth elemental, lowering herself so she could take them all out in one blast of fire. Emma and Pamela looked up to see the golem crouching down and leaning over the two of them, trying to protect them from the flames. Emma heard the dragon roar and knew that even though they were protected from the fire directly, the stone casing to their protector would act like an oven and cook them alive.

But it wasn't over yet.

A gargled roar came from an unknown source, and the light that was being caused by the fire preparation was snuffed. Instead, a shower of mist came down on the stone giant; something big had just hit the water. After Grant had stood up, Emma's jaw hit the ground when she saw what was wrestling with the dragon in the water. It was the leviathan, Aidan's elemental form!

The sea serpent whipped its tail around, smacking the flailing dragon, which wasn't used to fighting in the water, the fire elemental roared in pain while the water creature roared in triumph. Skye and Grant had taken back their human forms while Emma and Pamela stood mesmerized by the fight. The enormous blue snake hissed loudly as it backed away, before releasing a powerful roar that split the water it hit, the shockwave traveling all the way to the drowning monster that still hadn't taken off yet. The leviathan kept roaring, sending powerful waves of water pressure at its enemy and slowly crushing it, it wasn't long before the dragon began to glow and a powerful explosion consumed the monster, leaving only the winner behind.

Emma stared into the eyes of the creature remaining in the water, even in this form she could still read Aidan. She breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that he didn't know about the twins, as Paige had not wanted him to know about them. The two shared a wordless thank you before he swam away…

* * *

Emma smiled as she held one of the twins in her arms, she had her fathers piercing green eyes and small wisps of blonde hair were already growing on her tiny head. But the rest was Paige, the porcelain perfect skin, the shape of her nose; this child was definitely a Halliwell, "She's beautiful…" Emma smiled as she passed the child back to her mother who was sitting with the identical sister of the baby in her arms.

Paige grinned stupidly, giddy from the happiness and the craziness of the day, "I know…" She stroked both of the sleeping forms that were in her arms.

Seeing that her sister was close to nodding off, Piper smiled gently as she took one of her nieces off Paige and began to walk to the room what the witchlighter had prepared. It was baby blue, as Paige didn't believe in sexually orientated colours, and it had two cribs, each of them a soft yellow. The entire room was easy on the eyes. After the two sleeping babies were put down in their beds, the two witches left, giving them a loving look before leaving.

"You go get some rest…" Piper whispered, Paige nodded and let her sister help her to her bedroom.

The silence was broken by a huge sigh from Pamela, "What a day, huh? I get off my ass, my two little cousins are born, and Aidan saved us from being buns in an oven!"

Emma's head whipped around from the couch with Piper and Leo's, "Pam!" She hissed.

"You saw Aidan?" Piper said in barely a whisper, nit wanting to take any chances of Paige finding out.

Grant nodded, "He saved us from Danielle,"

"Does he know about…?" Phoebe nodded towards the room where her nieces were sleeping.

Pamela shrugged, but Emma shook her head, "I scanned him before he swam away, he was only there because he sensed the fight,"

"Good," Leo whispered, "That's one less thing for Paige to worry about,"

"I don't think she'll be able to keep it a secret for long though," Brennan began, "The twins are special, the entire magical community will soon know about them,"

"And when that happens…" Phoebe began.

Emma finished, "Atlantis will want its new heirs…"

* * *

**NEXT TIME:** Paige isn't sure she wants a Wiccaning for her children, as she doesn't feel properly connected to the family; she also struggles with finding names for the twins. Phoebe tries desperately to find her powers. Piper summons Melinda Warren to convince Paige about the Wiccaning, the old ancestor then teams up with Emma to go on a demon killing spree, after numerous kidnap attempts are made for the twins and Pamela feels distant from the family after missing so much.

Chapter 16 **"Title Unknown"** will be up soon!


	16. Power Of Three's A Crowd

Okay, I really don't have time to do replies right now as my internet has been screwing around and I don't know how long it will stay up, but a BIG thank you to everyone who reviewed and I hope you enjoy this one!

**Power Of Three's A Crowd**

Pamela sat in her room with a cold expression on her face as she swung a crystal over the map of San Francisco, she clutched to another object as she spun the amethyst around. A gold chain dropped from her fist, the witch cursed as she dropped the necklace on the map. She looked at it before putting it back in her hand, the name "Prue" made out of gold hung from a chain.

The teen bobbed her head as Simple Plan's "Me Against The World" pounded into her ears through the headphones of her MP3 player; she felt the song was appropriate considering her mood. Her eyes widened as the crystal began to tug downwards, she was about to find her…

"PAMELA WALKER!"

Her aunt's shriek made Pamela jump and she dropped the crystal and personal item, she took out her headphones and gaped at Piper standing in the doorway.

"Did you not see the "Go to Hell" sign on the door? What's your problem, woman?"

"C'mon, I want you to meet someone,"

"I'm busy," Pamela replied, putting her headphones back in and discreetly pushing the scrying tools behind her.

The eldest witch rolled her eyes; her niece had been like this ever since the twins were born, "Fine…" She admitted defeat before spinning round and stomping to the attic…

* * *

Emma yet out a yelp as she was thrown into the changing table of the twins room in Paige's apartment, "Paige!" She called out to her friend, who had left her children for two seconds to get a bottle. Both of the girls were screaming in their cribs, one twin had a shield of orbs up while the other was protected by a giant bubble of impenetrable water.

The demon that had the attacked the empath began to advance on the girl with the water shield, conjuring an energy ball and preparing to fire while the other advanced on the dome of orbs,

"NO!" Paige screamed as she ran in with a bottle of heated milk. She unscrewed the lid and threw it at the evil being's face, he screamed in agony as the liquid hit his face, "Oh, I guess I left it in the microwave for too long," She smirked before using one of her Judo moves and sent both demons to the ground with a spinning kick, "Emma, the potions!"

"Oh… oh!" She suddenly remembered, scrambling for her purse that had been knocked from her hand. Emma quickly delved in and felt the glass vials in her palm, she pulled them out and threw them, vanquishing the two demons and leaving only smoke behind.

Both of the twins' shields dropped and Paige went to comfort them, "There, there…" She held them both closely as she sat in the chair next to the window of the bedroom, "Its okay… I know, I'm going to let everything hurt you, my little angels…" She began to sing softly as Emma looked on.

_Hush little baby, don't say a word,_

_Mama's gonna buy you a mocking bird,_

_And if that mocking bird don't sing,_

_Mama's gonna buy you a diamond ring…_

After a couple more lines, the babies fell silent and began to coo softly. Paige smiled wearily as she put them down in their cribs and turned on the mobiles above, one crib had a mobile of clouds while the other had a mobile of bubbles. The weary witch then pulled the blind down gently and gestured to Emma to leave the room. They walked out silently and managed to make it to the couch before Paige broke down, sobbing into her hands. Emma sat there silently and pulled her best friend into a tight hug, letting her get all the pain out, it wasn't long before the witchlighter pulled away with a sniff and raking her hand through her hair, "I can't do this Emma…" She whispered, hiccupping.

"Honey…" The psinoic rubbed her back, "You gave birth three months before you were supposed to, you're a single mother, and you have demons constantly attacking. Even with all that I still think you're doing a fantastic job! It'll just be a while before you adjust, you've only been the a mother for two weeks, you'll get the hang of it,"

"But what if I don't?" She argued before shaking head, "I just wish that he was…"

Emma's eyes began to shine with tears; it pained her to see Paige like this, "I know… I wish that for you too,"

Paige sighed, "I just… I just hope that I'm enough,"

The psionic sighed and pulled her into another hug, before looking upwards and tutting, "Damn elders…" She cursed as she pulled back.

"It's okay, you can go," Paige nodded, more to convince herself than Emma, "I'll be fine, I'll call Phoebe or something…"

"Are you sure? Because I can stay if you want me to,"

"No, your duties are important,"

"My friends are more so," Emma came back with.

The weary new mother let out a chuckle, "I'm going to or you myself if you don't get a move on!"

"Okay… but you call me if you need anything!' Emma warned, "And I don't mean on my cell, just holler," She smiled before disappearing in pink orbs…

* * *

"Power of the witches rise,

Course unseen across the skies,

Come to us who call you near,

Come to us and settle here,"

Phoebe opened her eyes and looked around the Magic School Library with a hopeful glint to see if anything had happened, but when she tried to read the thoughts of a passing student and failed, she groaned and dropped head to the table. She had been trying all morning to find out what had happened to her powers, the only way she had got here was by hitching a ride with Leo when he was making his way here. "Okay, next attempt…" She said to herself, determined to get to the bottom of this. The witch began to sift through the piles of books and paper that Miss Donovan had collected for her.

"Phoebe, what are you doing?"

Phoebe jumped at the sound of Leo's voice; she smiled as she faced him, not wanting to give anything away about her powers being gone. But everyone who knew her well knew that Phoebe was a terrible liar. "Hey, I'm just… um… revising some spells,"

"Why? Are you planning on enrolling here?" He smirked as he sat down.

She laughed nervously, "No!" She laughed again, "You just… never know when you'll need a spell,"

Leo skimmed his eyes across the mound of paperwork, "So why are you looking at articles on powers?"

The colour of her face gave her away, "I just… I…"

"Phoebe, what's going on?" Leo clasped his hands and laid them on the table, knowing he had his sister in law cornered. Phoebe made a feeble attempt to hide the books that were closest to her, before sighing and deciding to tell the truth.

"My powers… are gone," She said simply, making an outwards gesture with her hands to get her point cross.

"Gone? You mean-,"

"I mean nothing! No levitating, no telepathy, no spell casting, no nothing!" She made the same hand gesture again. Leo gave her an amused expression; she took it offensively, "I'm glad _someone_ finds this funny…" Phoebe scowled.

He raised his eyebrows, "What? No, I'm sorry. I'm just wondering why you're trying to cast a spell when you don't the power. Seems like a waste of breath." He let out a chuckle. Phoebe hit him on the arm lightly.

"It seems talking to you was the waste of breath!" She spat, but sighed immediately after, "Look, Leo, I need help. Everyone but you seems to be drowning in problems or issues. Piper would flip if I told her, Paige is on the verge of a meltdown, Emma's too busy with her empath duties, Brennan would go all protective on me and Pamela doesn't know what the hell's been going on for the past three months! This is when Ask Phoebe needs an Ask Phoebe of her own…" She groaned and let her head droop to the wood, hitting her forehead on the table.

Leo smiled sympathetically at her, "You're right. I'm sorry; you want me to check with the other elders?"

"Yes," He stood up and prepared to orb, but she grabbed the sleeve of his black robe, "Leo, _do not_ mention a word of this to Piper or Paige, got it?"

He nodded, "No problem,"

* * *

Piper looked around the dark attic, only two white candles on the low table lit up the scene. The attic would usually be bathed in sunlight at this time of the day, but the wacky weather caused by Danielle being vanquished was making a fierce storm. Lightning illuminated the room brightly for a split second before letting the two small flames return to being the only source of light.

The eldest witch winced as she cut her hand with the silver athame, she then picked up a glass goblet and made a fist with her bleeding hand, letting her blood fall into the cup and creating the connection she needed. Piper proceeded to put the goblet into the steaming potion pot in front of her. The mixture made a low rumbling sound and steam flowed over the side. Piper waited until the clap of thunder had finished before chanting the spell,

"Melinda Warren,

My great-great-great-great-great grandmother,

I summon thee!"

The witch's hair blew into her face as a familiar gust of wind flew around the room. Mint green lights began to swirl around next to the Book of Shadows and after they vanished, a beaming blond haired woman stood in their place, her clothes were around three hundred years old and a pewter locket with a bright red ruby in the centre hung around the woman's neck.

She smiled again before taking her first breath of being in this realm, "Blessed be!" She said merrily as lightning turned her mage into a silhouette for a brief second before returning to her smiling self.

"Hi…" Piper beamed back. She was about to say more when pink orbs flowed down from the ceiling and formed Emma, startling both Piper and the summoned spirit.

"Piper, can I talk to-," She looked up, "Why is there a woman wearing out of date clothes on our attic?"

Melinda gave Emma a curious look, "You do not seem to be of Warren blood. Who are you?" She asked in a peaceful tone. The psionic gave a look to her friend, who was just smiling at the awkwardness of the situation.

"Uh… Emma, Melinda… Melinda, Emma," She smiled again, "I summoned her,"

Emma folded her arms, "I thought we agreed that we weren't going to force Paige's hand on the Wiccaning thing? Summoning the ancestor that made you who you are is a pretty big breach of that agreement,"

Piper groaned, "Come on, Emma. Paige was the one to convince me that Chris needed a Wiccaning when he was little, so I need to return the favour,"

"But this is the last thing she needs right now!" The normally calm witch snapped, "That's what I wanted to talk to you about!"

"Pardon me…" Melinda raised her hand slightly, bringing an end to the war of words, "Even though I'm overjoyed to see you again, Piper. Can I ask why you summoned me at this time?"

Piper could only let out an ironic chuckle and smile. A lot had to be explained…

* * *

Pamela shook her jacket slightly as she walked into the dorm of Magic School. Students who were staying for the year would sleep in here and basically make this a second home, the Halliwell witch wasn't one of these people, her friends however, were.

"Pam? What are you doing here?" Zach asked, seeing his friend wrapped up in a jacket with a hood covering most of her head. He didn't get an answer straight away, as the first thing Pamela did was lunge at him and hug him, this was the first time she had seen him since she had got out of her coma and since she had found out how he felt.

Pamela pulled back quickly, "Where's your brother?"

Zach's face fell momentarily; anyone quick enough to see it would have thought that he was disappointed that she hadn't came to him, "Um… I don't know. Why aren't you taking your hood down?"

"Oh," She pulled on the tassels to make the hood tighten so that only her eyes and nose could be seen, "I got something done to my hair, I went to get it done after going three months without stylings and I sorta… went for something different," The witch said in a muffled voice behind the layer of material.

"Are you going to let me see?" He asked with a smirk, his question made her pull the tassels even more so that only her sparkling blue eyes could be seen. Zach stifled a laugh as he saw them roll.

"Fine… but you laugh, you die," She warned before unzipped her waterproof coat and pushing back the hood, waiting for the jibes that never came. Her dark brown hair had been replaced with a light chestnut colour, her fringe was gone and two thin bangs hung at the sides, framing her face. Small streaks of blonde ran through her long hair now, making it a lot more different than it was last time. Pamela stood with a nervous look on her face, "Remember, you laugh, you die!" She warmed again, twirling and making the blonde and brown colours in her hair mix for a second, "Well?"

"You look…" He was stunned by the feminine out of character twirl that she had just performed, "You look beautiful…" He smiled.

A giant grin spread across Pamela's face, "Really?"

"Really!" Zach nodded.

She laughed and jumped up, wrapping her arms around his neck and hugging him again before returning to serious composure. The witch tucked a piece of her hair behind her ear, "Zach… this is important, your brother took my… Prue's soul," She couldn't bring herself to say the "M" word.

"What?"

"Look, I don't have time to explain. Where is Evan's dorm?"

"Uh… follow me," He began to walk down the hall way with Pamela at his heels. They took many twists and turns along the seemingly endless corridors of the dormitory. They finally stopped at a certain door and Zach closed his eyes, strings of orange light seeped from his forehead and went through the door, "He's in there." The psionic nodded, trying to open the door and pushing on the obstruction. Pamela sighed and shook her head; she didn't have time for this. She signaled for her friend to stand back and she scrunched up her face, making a violent gesture at the door and blasting it to the smithereens.

Pamela was the first to storm the room, but she was blasted back by an unknown force and flew into Zach sending them both of the ground. She growled as she quickly stood up, facing Evan and ready fight. He was different than usual. A glowing purple emblem was engraved in his forehead, made up of complicated lines, but the only line that Pamela was concerned with was the thin smile that he wore.

"You bastard…" She snarled, raising her hand to her mouth a blowing out a large cloud of frost. The sub zero energy flew towards the teen, who jumped to the side with supernatural speed and agility. Pamela tried to attack again, gesturing wildly and blowing up chunks of the dorm as he jumped around avoiding her. The Halliwell witch let the dust from the rubble settle, squinting her eyes to see through the denseness. Lightning flashed and gave away the ghost hunter's position, Pamela prepared to strike again. Taking a deep breath, she hoped that the power she had inherited from her mother would pull through. She thrust out her arms and pointed her fingers out as far as they would go; releasing streams of telekinetic energy at her assailant, slowly making him levitate into the air and pinning him forcefully against the wall. Pamela then wiggled her fingers slightly; summoning the sphere from Evan's pocket with her powers and making it float slowly towards her.

"No!" Evan groaned, feeling the pressure against his chest as the telekinesis kept him suspended on the wall.

As the sphere floated towards her, Pamela finally let arms drop along with Evan and grabbed the glowing sphere before it hit the ground.

"Finally…" She breathed, scowling at the sphere before throwing it to the ground. It smashed with a shattering sound, causing a bright flash of light as wisps of white light flew from the ground, streaming towards the sky and vanishing when they went through ceiling. One stopped midway and circled Pamela's head, she smiled.

"Let's just call this even," She whispered, before it flew away…

* * *

"Come on, Paige. You can't stay mad at me forever,"

"Oh yeah? Summoning the beginning of our line doesn't seem like a pretty big breach of my "no Wiccaning" rule to you?"

Piper rolled her eyes at her little sister as they sat in the living room of the Manor,

"Excuse me, but weren't you the one, Missy Paige, who convinced me to have a Wiccaning for your nephew?"

Paige got up and stared at one of her daughters that was sleeping on one of two bassinets. She savoured the moments when they were peaceful, because demons would hardly ever attack at this time, "That was different… it was your heritage,"

Her older sister gaped, "And it's not yours?"

"No… I don't really feel like it is. I see you and Phoebe, and you're both so happy! You have passion, purpose, and I have…" One of her children gurgled before disappearing from her bassinet in a swirl of orbs and reappearing in Paige's arms the same way. The other child followed suit and was consumed by water, before reappearing with a splash of magical water, "Kids…" She smiled and held them both tightly to her breast as she sat down.

Piper smiled at her nieces behaviour, "Paige, you are the reason that this line can continue, you are the reason my heritage, _your_ heritage, still exists! If we had never found you, we would be dead by now!"

"Actually you two were still alive in a reality were I was dead," She butted in, remembering her accidental trip to Cole's twisted reality.

"The point being…" Piper narrowed her eyes, "Is that we never would have got this far without you. So please rethink the whole Wiccaning thing!" She pleaded before putting up her hands, "That's all I'll say,"

Paige let out a snort of laughter before it was interrupted by pink orbs beginning to take the forms of Emma and Melinda. They both had urgent looks on their faces and were covered on soot and ash.

"You need to escape with the young ones!" Melinda blurted out, "A powerful evil was expecting our presence! Leave for your own safety!"

Emma said it more simply, "Macreaus followed us. We barely got out of there alive, he set a trap,"

Only Piper and her sisters knew the outcomes of the simulations they had set. Macreaus would kill them all if everyone didn't leave. But even though she was aware of the danger, Piper couldn't bare to be run out of her own house. Melinda spoke, seeing the confliction on her descendant's face.

"Flee with Paige…" She said calmly, "Emma and I shall take care of this threat,"

Emma nodded wildly at that suggestion, "Trust me, we've taken on countless demons today," She smirked, "What's one more?" Piper sighed and put her hands on her hips, not convinced, "What's more important, you house or your nieces?"

"That is not fair!" She objected, "Alright, but you call us if you're in trouble…" She warned, before guiding Paige to the bassinets and letting them orb out. As they disappeared, the front door creaked open and Pamela ran in, shaking her golden brown hair around to try and dry off.

"Hey, who's the blonde?" She asked, gesturing to Melinda.

"I could ask the same question!" Emma exclaimed, pointing at the teen's hair, "I thought you hated blonde,"

"No, I hate _blondes_, not the colour," She turned to Melinda again, "No offense!"

She frowned, not really understanding, "None taken,"

Pamela was about to say more, when she was suddenly sent flying upwards and went crashing through the banister. The smashing of wood making a loud noise and drowning out the noise of Pamela rolled down the stairs and stopping at the landing. The young witch struggled to pick herself up.

The blue scaled demon grinned at the two remaining witches, lightning flashing to match his bright teeth. Melinda stepped forward, ready to face Macreaus with everything she had, "Leave now!" She boomed, Emma was convinced she had felt telekinetic energy ripple from her voice.

He chuckled, "Do you really think _you_ can stop me? Your time has past, Melinda. It took most of your strength to bind me to the earth with Brendan all those years ago…"

"You're right," She smirked, "My time is past, and so has yours!" She flung her arms out then to the side, making the demon fly into the living room and crash into the fireplace, marble falling down on him. Emma could only watch, until she saw Melinda being thrown out of the living room and into the alcove at the front door. Macreaus moved on Emma at amazing speed. She was able to anticipate his coming and prepared a powerful attack, making her eyes turn dark and sending a black shockwave from her forehead. The demon stumbled and blinked a couple of times as the mental attack hit him, but he got his balance back and grinned again.

"Stupid witch. It'll take a lot more than what you've got to kill me!" His claw glowed red and Emma was hurled forcefully into the sunroom, skidding across the floor and knocking her out.

"Son… of a bitch!" Pamela snarled as she scrambled to her feet on the landing, throwing her hands out and blasting the demon into the sunroom before he exploded into thousands of particles. The teen witch ran through to where the rain was beating down on the windows in all directions. Emma was slowly getting to her feet, rubbing the back of her head before eyes widened. Macreaus stood behind Pamela, his sharp tail raised and ready to strike her in the back.

"No!" The psionic screamed. She run across the room and threw Pamela to the floor. The needle like tail shot into her stomach instantly, poking out the back, before he roughly pulled it out. Emma fell to the ground instantly while Pamela sat on the ground shocked.

"Now it's your turn…" He growled and advanced on the startled witch. She once even more startled when Macreaus began to move extremely slowly, she turned her head to see Melinda with her hands outstretched. The late ancestor rushed to Pamela's aid and helped her to her feet.

"He's fighting through my power, that's why he didn't stop completely," She explained.

"You have the power to freeze?"

Melinda nodded, "I also have the power that your mother gave to you. Let us take care of the threat together." Pamela eyed her warily before grinning.

"Lets!"

Macreaus finally fought off the freeze and went back to moving normally. Pamela and Melinda raised their arms; the air around them was distorted by the energy created from their powers. They suddenly jutted out their hands, everything around them flew forwards. Lamps, sofas, pictures, but what moved the most was Macreaus. The was sent through the wall of the sunroom at great speed, but he didn't stop there, as the telekinetic energy carried him through and made him sail into the wall that was at the stairs. The two witches looked at the damage they had caused to the house before grinning as Macreaus retreated in a flurry of particles. Their victory was short lived, as they their attention was brought back to a dying Emma on the floor, but they knew she would be okay.

"Leo! Paige!"

* * *

Paige walked into the attic smiling. Rain battered down on the windows and lightning flashed now and again, making the glow from sixty two candles seem feeble. She had to hand to Piper; she really did go all out for Wiccanings.

The entire room was bathed in a golden light coming from all the little flames dotted around the place. Paige found this the perfect atmosphere. It was calm inside, while a storm raged outside. She looked around, seeing her family and numerous additions. Piper and Leo stood together with Wyatt and Chris standing awkwardly in front of them, this was probably quite boring for them! Phoebe and Brennan stood together; Connor was in his mother's arms as Phoebe pointed out all the interesting things in the attic. His little eyes took in the sights hungrily. Pamela and Emma stood at either side of the couples, smiling at Paige as she walked in; Pamela kept on fidgeting with her hair while Emma kept giving her looks to make her cut it out. Melinda Warren stood in front of the Book of Shadows, along with two bassinets that held two gargling infants; she beamed at the ancestor before walking over

"Let us begin…" Melinda said kindly as she turned around.

"Grant says sorry about the weather. They're still looking for a new Fire Elemental." Emma whispered into her best friend's ear.

Paige smiled at her, "Are you kidding? I couldn't have asked for a more perfect setting,"

"I now call forth, from space and time,

Matriarchs from the Halliwell line,

Mothers, daughters, sisters, friends,

Our family spirit, without end,

To gather now, in this scared place,

And help us bring, these children to grace,"

Everyone looked at the ceiling and watched as long streams of light fall from the heavens. Each one blossomed into a different Matriarch as it hit the floor, they smiled warmly at their leader, who was holding the two girls in her arms now, "The next generation has been born into our family… our legacy…" She began the ceremony.

"We pledge to be with these children… these beautiful girls, always. Free but never separate… apart but never alone… they are part of us… and because of that, we shall bless them in all the goodness that we are. Welcome to the family…" She turned to Paige, as she was the only one who knew the names of her children.

"The one in your right arm is Melinda Parker Matthews, and the one in your left arm is Emma Parker Matthews…"

Emma was at a loss for words at the tribute her best friend had just performed. Not only was she the children's godmother, but she was also a namesake too! Melinda too, smiled at the tribute before turning back to her ghostly family, gushing with pride, "Welcome to the family, Melinda Parker Matthews and Emma Parker Matthews! Blessed be!"

"Blessed be…" The Matriarchs chorused.

"Blessed be…" Paige whispered.

"Blessed be…" Everyone hummed in the room.

Melinda smiled as she passed Melinda and Emma to their mother before joining her family in the spirit life. She blew them all a kiss, and everyone smiled. Pamela kept a lingering eye on her mother, who smiled at her as she disappeared through the ceiling…

* * *

**NEXT TIME:** Paige's new power is revealed when an unknown force is hunting a group of friends and she's the only one who can see the assailant. Pamela makes a drastic move on Zach, and when Phoebe finds her powers under the bed, how will the feelings of anger and betrayal warp her mind and powers?

Chapter 17 **"Final Destiny" **should be up soon!


	17. Final Destiny

_Prince Halliwell_ – Lol, it was my attempt at a pun. It was a play on the film Final Destination. And you're sort of right with the power thing, you'll have to read and find out!

_Ravenix_ – Yeah, Evan will be driving a wedge between them. And I'm working on finding someone for Jenna, just let me get my thoughts working lol! Oh yes… warped Phoebe is going to pretty scary, this subplot is going to last until around chapter 20!

_Pangea_ – I know, they really should use Melinda more often. Paige's new power is revealed in this chapter!

_Unique deflection_ – Your favourite? Thanks! And I'm glad you liked it!

_Charmed-Greek_ – LOL! I hope you like this one!

_Andy20 _– Cool, my computer's being a pain in the ass right now. I'm glad you liked it!

_Phoebe turner_ – Lol, you never know, Aidan could be closer than you think!

_Piperfairy_ – Your questions will all be answered eventually!

_Anianka_ – Oh, trust me, you're going to like this spat if you're not a Brennan fan! And Evan is definitely going to be a problem! I'm glad you like the names; did you notice the little tribute to Aidan?

_Kendallpaigecharity_ – Lol, more twin cuteness coming up!

**Final Destiny**

Emma stormed into the kitchen from the back garden while Piper and Leo prepared dinner. She pulled a bar stool out with a groan as she sat down, scowling and folding her arms. Piper smirked as she recognized her friend's reaction, "Pamela beat you again?"

The psionic slammed her hand down on the counter, "The girl is a monster! She even let me use my powers this time!"

"Oh…" Pamela walked in, wearing a band with a skip around her head and counting a fistful of dollar bills, "Don't be a sore loser, DeLauro. Nobody's ever beaten me at Poker,"

"Where did you learn to play like that?" Emma exclaimed.

"Well… a couple of years ago in my time in Russia…" She began.

"Wait!" Piper suddenly put her hand up in protest, "_You_ were in Russia?"

She frowned, "I never told you? Hmm… I'm sure I had a reason for not telling. Anyway, I worked with these con artists-,"

"Con artists!" Piper gaped.

"Oh… I just remembered the reason," The teen cringed, "Anyway, in that line of business, you have to know how to bluff. It was a pretty good deal until one of them got a little handsy, then I left him with no hands!" She giggled and went into the dining room, still counting her money.

"Why do I feel as if she's lived a fuller life than me?" Emma asked.

Piper laughed, "Yeah! And you're on your second!"

The psionic glared at her, "Hey! Coming from the person who's died countless times! Your lives must be dwindling honey,"

"Oh… Touché." The eldest Halliwell smirked, "It's all fun and games until someone loses a life!"

* * *

Phoebe couldn't help but let out a giggle when her little sister answered the door wearing big sunglasses and her hair in a tangled mess. Paige groaned as she raked a hand through the jungle that was her hair, "What do you want?"

"Hello to you to…" Phoebe said sarcastically as she entered. Connor, who was balanced on her hip, raised a finger and let out a little laugh at Paige's appearance. She smiled and tickled her nephews chin.

"I can tell he's going to be a charmer," She smiled.

"I'm surprised Sandy didn't start barking when I rang the doorbell," The middle sister stated. The witchlighter could only gesture to the dog basket at the window, where the golden Labrador, now growing at an amazing rate, lay snoozing, "Like owner, like dog," she muttered, "Paige, take the damn glasses off. I can't take you seriously,"

Paige raised a finger to her lips, "Be quiet!" She hissed, "The twins have been sleeping for… what time is it?"

"A little after eight,"

"Then they've been sleeping for a whole two hours, I've been using the down time wisely,"

"Sleeping?"

She frowned, "How'd you guess?"

Phoebe smiled at her, "Because this little guy…" She jiggled Connor a little, "Was the exact same! Anyway, take the glasses off,"

"No," She held onto the sides firmly, "My eyes feel better with them on," She suddenly winced in pain and scrunched up her eyes.

"Sweetie, are you okay?" Phoebe laid Connor down on the sofa and put a hand on her sister's shoulder.

"Yeah, I'm… so not fine!" She exclaimed, whipping the glasses off and looking around wildly. Everything had suddenly gone foggy. White mist lapping at her feet and all around her, it was all she could see.

"Paige, what's wrong?" Phoebe's voice echoed. Paige looked forward and gasped when a light shone in front of her; it was where Phoebe's voice was coming from. She looked down to the side, where her couch should be and saw a smaller globe of light which she assumed to be Connor. Slowly, the mist around her began to recede and the vision of her apartment came back to her, along with Phoebe and Connor, "What happened? Paige, you're eyes were glowing," Paige squinted slightly and realized the pain in her eyes was gone, "Paige? Are you listening?"

She took a breath, "No…"

* * *

The next morning, Emma sat in the solarium with her hair still in a towel. She sipped on her coffee while looking out the window. A call from the Elders made her roll her eyes, she gestured to her coffee, "I haven't even had my fuel yet! This is what you should expect if you give me a charge in Australia!"

Pamela came in with a yawn, "Who the hell are you talking to?"

"The Elders, damn charges…" She scowled.

The teen's brow furrowed, "Charges? What is it, you've died so many times and they've just decided to make you a whitelighter?"

"No, I'm an empath. Jeez, Pam. You really need to get up to speed on things; it's been three weeks for crying out loud,"

The two of them squinted their eyes as bright orbs began to take the shape of Leo and Paige. The witchlighter was feeling about her surroundings with her arms jutting out and stumbling slightly as she walked.

"Wow… where did you find her? Sleeping in the gutter with a bottle of Scotch rolling out of her hand?" Pamela smirked. Paige turned to where her niece was sitting.

"You know, if you weren't just a ball of light to me right now, I would hit you!" She turned to where Leo was standing, still stumbling as she turned, "Did you find anything out, Leo?"

"Find what out?" Piper came in wearing her dressing gown. She was surprised to see Emma up and dressed already, "Charge?" She asked. The psionic nodded wearily in response before looking at Paige move her hands in front of Leo.

"I'm not touching you, am I? Because things just got really awkward if I am,"

"Uh… no," Leo leaned back to avoid his sister in law's grabbing hands.

"Someone want to tell me why my sister is attempting to grope my husband?" Piper grinned and put her hands on her hips. She wanted an answer.

"I'm blind!" Her youngest sibling suddenly exclaimed.

Leo tried to calm her down, "No, you're not. From what you told me, you're seeing onto the astral plane, where our spirits represent our forms,"

Paige gestured wildly and Emma helped her towards the couch, "Great!" She responded sarcastically, "Get me some contact lenses and make it go away!"

The Elder raised his eyebrows, "Go away? Paige, this is your new power! Multi Dimensional Sight!"

"What the hell is that?" Piper asked him.

He was about to explain but Emma jumped in, "Very rare power. I'm not surprised it spawned in a Charmed One. You see, there are eleven planes of existence; witches with the power of multi-dimensional sight have the ability to cast their eyes over each of the planes. Of course, no witch has ever survived long for their powers to advance and let them see all eleven planes,"

"Fascinating, Emma…" Paige glared at the floating ball of light beside her, "I'd love to read up on it, oh… wait, I can't!" She spat before folding her arms and her nostrils flaring.

"C'mon! This is the sixth power you've been wanting for ages! And with it, evil won't be able to conceal itself from you ever again. Look, why don't we go for a coffee? Maybe it'll go away when you're in a public place,"

"But what about the twins?"

It was Leo's turn, "I've already taken them to Magic School. Speaking of which…" He shot a look at Pamela, who rolled her eyes.

"Alright, don't worry. I'm getting ready now," She droned before climbing the stairs.

"Um… Honey?" Emma moved a piece of hair from Paige's face, "Where are those sunglasses of yours? I think we may need them,"

The witchlighter frowned and felt around for her pocket. She pulled out a pair of shades, "There you go, why do we need them?"

"Because your eyes glow every time you use your new power. And they'll probably help you get your normal sight back,"

"Okay…" She put them on and prepared to orb out when Emma stopped her.

"I'll do the orbing. We don't want you landing off target and exposing us now, do we?"

Paige gave her best friend a roll of her glowing eyes before linking arms with the empath and letting her orb them both out. The witchlighter scowled when she realized she couldn't see Emma's pink orbing ability with her new power activated…

* * *

Brennan put Melinda down in the playpen of the Magic School nursery. The mutant sighed and smiled, hoping that this little nightmare was over. His euphoria didn't last long, when Emma, who was wriggling around in the other playpen, disappeared in a splash of water and reappeared the same way next to Melinda. Brennan let out a grunt of annoyance. His two nieces were completely inseparable! If you moved Emma, Melinda would ob to her and vice versa. It was times like this he was thankful that his eight month old son hadn't inherited a transportation power.

Connor was sitting in the floor waving a furry brown bear around in his tiny hand. He didn't really know how to play properly with toys as of yet, so he would just wave them about or throw him. Brennan could tell that he was going to be a naturally energetic child.

"Trouble wrangling the girls?" a voice said behind him. Leo walked in with Wyatt walking next to him, in almost the same manner.

Brennan blew air out of his mouth and ran a hand through his hair, "Just tell me when they hit their teens and can't stand each other,"

The headmaster laughed, "Yeah, Paige and Emma seen to be the only ones who can them content without being together,"

Brennan smiled and knelt down to face his nephew, "Hey buddy, what are you doing here? I thought you said only little kids came here,"

Wyatt held his head high before smiling mischievously, "Can I see Connor?"

He grinned, "Sure, he's just over there playing with the bear that you gave him,"

A couple of minutes later, the two boys were sitting with each other. Even with the four year age gap, Wyatt still found Connor to be good company. It was probably because he was a prophesized child like himself and felt a connection; it could have also been that Connor and Wyatt were pretty silent children. Even Mrs. Winterbourne had given up trying to separate the twins and the two girls were now sleeping soundly next to each other in a bassinet. Brennan and Leo sat in the large comfortable arm chairs of the room, talking about basically everything that was going on in their lives while stopping to let the din of playing children die down, this was a nursery after all.

"Do you think you'd ever have another?" Brennan gestured to Wyatt, who was now sitting with some toys since it was after school.

Leo rubbed his chin in thought, "I don't know. I mean, if it was to happen by accident then sure, I would give it all the love I've given Wyatt and Chris. But by choice…"

The mutant witch nodded in agreement, "I know what you mean. Three kids seems like a handful,"

Leo glanced at Connor, who was chewing the ear of the bear in his hands, "What about you? Is my only nephew going to be having a sibling anytime soon?" He smirked.

Brennan shook his head in confusion and sighed, "I don't know man. I'm happy with just the one right now, but when I look at Phoebe sometimes, I just… can't imagine her not having a little girl of her own. And then there's the look…"

"What look?"

He sat in silence for a moment, "The look I get when she's holding Connor, playing with him, or putting him down for the night. She looks at me with so much happiness in her eyes…" Brennan smiled at the mental picture, "But there's a sort of… yearning behind that, something that gives the happiness a little feeling of hollowness I guess,"

"You think she's unhappy?" Leo frowned.

"No, it's… like she wants more. But hey, we'll work things out. All we need is a little faith,"

* * *

"Pam, I'm not really sure we should be doing this," Zack looked around the dark filing room with a telepathic starlight hanging over his forehead, showing the way through the shadows.

Pamela turned to him with a sigh, the blonde in her hair flashing in the weak light, "Look, I have to make up for three months of absence. Jenna's grandmother has just died and we were planning on this for weeks! If we pull this off, it'll be something to cheer her up. Her grandmother meant a lot to her," Pamela folded her arms and rubbed them in silence before grinning, "Besides, if we can get some dirt on Loretta, we might be able to use it at the later date!" She grinned before turning back to the filing cabinet.

Zach sighed in agreement and opened up a drawer, "I doubt we'll find anything in Loretta's record. You don't find any big secrets in school files," He said with distain.

"Well, we'll take anything we can get," the Halliwell replied as she sifted through the paper folders, "Aha… found it," She said with a smirk as she pulled out a file. Zach grinned and walked across to her, casting the orange glow on the page and making it easier to read.

"Let's see…" Zach said in a low voice filled with excitement. Pamela turned to him and smiled.

"See? That sexy voice is proof that you've got a wild side,"

He seemed to be taken aback by this comment but grinned at her, "Thanks…" He said.

They looked in the file before there were noises coming from the hallway. They watched as a person shaped shadow moved around at the blurry window of the door. They were going to get caught!

"What are we gonna do?" Pamela hissed.

"Hide," Zach replied instantly as he looked around, seeing that all the filing cabinets were lined up against the wall and the centre of the room was black, there was nowhere to hide.

"I have an idea," Pam suddenly blurted out. She pulled Zach by the collar towards a filing cabinet and pushed his back up against it. She moved even closer to him so their noses were almost touching, "Kiss me,"

"What?" He exclaimed.

"Kiss me!" She urged. The sound of jingling keys could be heard on the other side of the door; they didn't have time to argue. Pamela suddenly wrapped her arms tightly around his neck and kissed him passionately, moving up against him more. Zach finally caught on to her plan and placed his hands just above her hips, returning the kiss with the same passion Pamela was giving it. The two of them got so wrapped up in the intensity that they didn't even break apart when the door opened and flooded the room with light. The janitor gave him a wide eyed look and gaped, "What are you doing in here?"

Pamela finally broke away before a heated and exposed look with Zach, "Sorry, we were looking for somewhere and this place was open, so…"

"This is where permanent records are kept!" The balding man explained, "You can't just break in to stick your tongues down each others throats! Get out!" He pointed to the hall.

Pamela pursed her lips as her face reddened with genuine embarrassment. Zach kept up the act and slung an arm around her shoulder,

"C'mon baby, let's get out of here," He said to her huskily as they left, both avoiding the looks that the janitor was giving them.

After they were out of the janitor's earshot, the two teens burst out laughing in the corridor. Teachers who were on their way home gave them strange looks as they passed by. Zach managed to catch his breath and spoke, "Did you get the file?"

"Yup!" Pamela said enthusiastically. She pulled the front of her top forwards slightly and pulled out a folder, "Am I resourceful or what?"

He smiled at her, "You're fantastic…" he whispered.

Pamela walked towards him slowly, "Fantastic as a friend? Or… fantastic as the way we were in the filing room?"

Zach smirked at her, "I don't know. Maybe we should try it again, just so I'm sure,"

She rolled her eyes and smiled, "Okay, just make to sure…" She put her arms around his neck again and went to kiss him, but this time Zach took control and pushed her up against the wall. He kissed her passionately as her hands roamed through his hair and his hands stayed positioned on her sides, moving up and down now and again. Pamela giggled as they broke the lip lock and quickly planted a quick kiss on his lips,

"I gotta go…" She whispered.

"Yeah… me too," He replied.

But they didn't move…

* * *

Paige sat on a bench at the side of the lake at Golden Gate Park. The twins lay sleeping in the double stroller while Sandy sat protectively at her owner's side, panting slightly from the walk. The witchlighter was enjoying the sight at this moment. Although her sister's didn't know, here and under her three were the places she came to when she wanted to think.

She was basking in the break her new power was giving her until she heard a low growl at her feet and she saw Sandy growling at a group of people on the other side of the lake. Paige look perplexed, as they didn't look violent, they just looked like a group of normal people. A stinging in her eyes made Paige wince and when she reopened them, she saw the astral plane. The group of white lights in the distance must have been the group, but what confused the witch the most was the black cloud of gas that floated behind them. Her normal sigh came back and she could see nothing behind the people.

"Emma!" She called out to her best friend, who appeared to next to her on the bench in pink orbs.

"What's wrong? You okay?" She laid a hand on Paige's leg. She always assumed the worst.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Listen, could you look after the kids and Sandy for a second? I need to check something out," The witchlighter explained as she pulled a potion vial out of her purse.

"Um… Okay, are you sure? If it's a demon…"

"You won't be able to stop it if you can't see it," Paige cut in, "Just stay here and only call my sisters if necessary," Before the empath could object again, she stood up and began to run around the lake to the other side…

* * *

Phoebe squinted at the sunset that was being shown from her bedroom window. She continued to push the vacuum cleaner around cream carpet; this had become part of stress relieving, as Leo had found out nothing on her powers. It just didn't make sense. If a demon had taken them, then it probably would have attacked by now. If a demon had had broken the Power of Three, then her sisters wouldn't have any powers either and Phoebe knew for definite they had them, what was she missing?

She shook her head and sighed, thinking that she wouldn't be able to figure this out just by cleaning. But her chain of thought was broken by the vacuum cleaner hitting something solid when she pushed it under bed. Phoebe frowned; they didn't keep anything under the bed to her knowledge, so she turned off the vacuum and knelt down to investigate.

"Wha…?" She muttered as she reached under the bed, grabbing for the object wildly until she grasped it. It was cold and seemed to be glass. Phoebe began to pull it out and she heard a rustle of paper as she dragged the item across the floor. She dug another hand in and grabbed the paper, pulling them out and to her eyes, but when she saw what they were, she was horrified.

The item had been a jar of some sorts; the lid was a metal lock and swirling white lights bounced off the sides, trying to get out. Phoebe unfolded the piece of paper and almost had a melt down when she saw what was there, it was the spell to call for a witches powers!

"Phoebe!" Brennan's voice came from along the hall, "Dinner's ready if you want to…" He stopped when he saw his wife's discovery.

Phoebe looked at the expression and put two and two together, shaking her head and not wanting to admit it, "Brennan, please tell me you didn't…" She trailed off.

Knowing he was caught, he began to explain himself, "You don't understand, it was for your own good!"

But she stopped listening to him; the look on his face had explained everything instantly. She looked at him with tear filled eyes and anger before opening the jar roughly and watching the white lights stream out and flow back into her. The jar dropped from Phoebe's hand and her head whipped back as all the powers entered her raged filled body once again. But as they returned, the white lights began to darken and soon, Phoebe was being filled with little black spheres of magical energy.

The darkness stopped its flow and Brennan stood in silence and fear, "Phoebe?" He uttered quietly, waiting to see what she would say.

But no words came; instead, she pulled her head back to its usual position and opened her eyes, to reveal that they had gone completely back. Phoebe stood up from her kneeling stance, the air and objects around beginning to distort with the sheer power emitting from her person.

"It's time to take want you took from me…" She growled in a cold angry voice before releasing a black shadowy stream from her forehead. The blast hit Brennan in the chest and threw him back into the wall. She walked over to him confidently as he struggled to get up. The Halliwell knelt down, and, as if by magic, thrust her hand into his chest. A glow coming from her arm as Brennan's powers were slowly taken from him. After the process was complete, her husband slumped to the ground, "This is gonna be fun…" She smirked, before all the lights in the house flickered on and off, and when they came back on, she was gone…

* * *

Paige caught up to the group just in time, as whatever was attacking seemed to have knocked them all unconscious somehow. She ran through the leafy ground, bending down and checking the pulse of a woman before looking around, "Alright… show yourself!" She shouted, clutching the potion in hand.

A malevolent giggle tore through the air. Paige felt a presence fly around her and wished that her useless power would activate with impeccable timing. She wasn't so lucky however, as something dove from above and ripped the side of shirt, drawing blood from her arm in the process and making her fall to the ground. It was at that time Paige saw it, a stray beam of light from the setting sun illuminated it briefly. She got back up and stomped with rage, not believing what she was seeing, "You're an imp? I'm getting beaten by an invisible _imp_?"

She smirked as a familiar sting came to her eyes and the astral plane came into her view. Paige watched the black cloud of evil fly around her through the fog and shook her head; this was going to be too easy. She reached out her arm, seeing a trail of light represent the limb on this plane; the witchlighter activated her power and threw her arm towards the ground. Paige marveled at the streak of purple light that flew from her arm and constricted the black cloud, bringing it down forcefully to the floor. The normally invisible telekinetic energy flew back into Paige's arm. She was about to throw the potion when her normal sight came back and she couldn't see the imp. But there was a space on the ground where the leaves had been moved around, they formed the imprint of a tiny unconscious creature with a pointy tail. "So long," She said, before dropping the potion in the imprint and hearing the screams of being and seeing the flames of its vanquish. There was a small explosion and a squeak of defiance before only a scorch mark remained.

The people around her began to come to and as she looked at what she had done, Paige couldn't help but feel proud that it was her new power that had saved the day.

From an imp…

* * *

"Goodnight… sweet dreams," Piper whispered as she closed the door of her children's room. She decided that she was just going to go downstairs and watch TV for a while before going to bed, as she had had a letter from Social Services and she needed to talk about it with Leo. The eldest Charmed One stopped dead in her tracks when all the lights in the house suddenly fizzled out before turning back on, she looked around with a confused expression and decided to check the circuit box in the basement.

"Hi Piper,"

Piper jumped and turned around, "Phoebe? Wow… you startled me,"

The middle sister let a thin smile show through on her face, "Oh… I'm sorry; I'll try not to do that in the future,"

Piper raised an eyebrow, something wasn't right, "Phoebe, are you feeling okay?"

Phoebe cocked her head, "Never better," She smiled before narrowing her eyes, "You've got something on your face,"

"Really? Where?" The Charmed One began to feel at her face.

"Come here, I'll get it for you," She gestured for her older sister to come closer, which she did.

Emma opened the door of her room and walked out into the hall, she wanted to know what had caused the temporary power cut of the all the lights. The psionic had heard Piper's voice coming from the top of the stairs, so she decided to investigate.

"Hey Piper, what happened with the-," She stopped dead. Emma was suddenly hit with each a dark feeling that she knew that something was wrong. Piper turned her head to address her friend, that was when Emma realized and could only shout out a warning,"Piper, get away from Phoebe!"

But it was too late, Phoebe's eyes turned to black and her hand glowed as she shoved it into Piper's chest. The eldest witch gave her little sister a look of such pain as she fell to her knees. Phoebe's face had contorted into one of pleasure as Piper's powers flowed into her. She finally pulled her hand out and left her older sister slumped on the ground.

"C'mon Emma, do we need to do this the slow way, or the fast way?"

"You choose. You're going to be the one in pain," She growled, making her eyes go black for a brief moment as she fired a shockwave of fear at her former friend. Phoebe's soulless eyes widened and she stumbled back as the black wave hit her, even with her enhanced power of intuition, she could never have expected such power to erupt from Emma.

"Wow… that explains how you were able to my place while I was gone. But those times are over," She narrowed her eyes and Emma went flying into a chest of drawers at the wall, she was knocked out by a heavy ornament that fell from the top.

The lights flickered again and Phoebe was gone. She wasn't interested in draining Emma at this moment in time; she had other plans for the only person that came close to her power. She calmly climbed the stairs towards the attic, seeing the Book of Shadows standing on its podium. The tome glowed and closed itself as soon as Phoebe began to walk towards it. She smirked as she stood in front of it, it didn't matter if it was rejecting her. The witch held her hands over the closed book and they began to glow. The book seemed to be fighting against it, but in the end, Phoebe won out and it opened. The pages began to glow blood red and the light shot into Phoebe's hands, the pages began to flip rapidly and as they did, all the words, pictures, diagrams were torn from their pages and were absorbed by Phoebe. The book reached the end and it closed itself.

"Phoebe… what did you do?" Piper's voice came from the door. It was shaky, as was her stance.

She only grinned in response, "I'll be back," she growled, before the lights in the attic flickered and when they came back, Phoebe Halliwell had left the building…

* * *

**NEXT TIME:** Emma puts Brennan in his place about what he did to Phoebe. Paige instructs Leo to take all the children "Up There" as Phoebe will be coming after them for their powers. Piper wraps herself in a defensive cocoon and Pamela is drained of her powers when she takes on her aunt directly.

Chapter 18 **"When Good Sisters Go Bad"** will be up soon!

Just incase people are stumped about Paige's new power, it's to see onto the planes of existence E.G. Astral plane, ghostly plane… etc. She can only onto the astral plane right now, but her power will grow and her sight will become more advanced.

MDS – Multi-Dimensional Sight


	18. When Good Sisters Go Bad

_Prince Halliwell_ – Lol, the Emma VS Phoebe fight will be in the next chapter, along with a few other things. And I don't know about a third child, you'll have to wait and see! And trust Pam won't be repeating her mother's mistakes lol!

_Wyatt halliwell_ – I thought that would surprise you! Glad you liked it!

_Princess Pinky_ – Lol, oh trust me, in the sequel; Faith will play a pretty big role! And I'm glad you found it funny, I try to put in these little bits of Pamela's past, some are there to educate, some are there to laugh at! Glad you like Paige's new power and all of people/animals she lives with. And there's a reason I made Phoebe go like this from a writers and readers point of view, it'll be revealed next chapter. And thanks for that, I was so nervous about putting my stories on here, but I'm glad so many people like it!

PS: In response to your other review, sure, feel free to use the empath thing, pink orbs, Emma, and Pamela. Just credit me lol!

_Anianka_ – LMAO! You never know, Emma might be pounding on Brennan this chapter. And there's a reason for all the powers being stolen, it will be revealed next chapter. Emma and Phoebe's showdown will be in the next chapter! I'm glad you like Paige's new power; I can't believe pink orbs are so popular! Lol, a lot of people have wanted Zach and Pam to get it on! I'm glad you enjoyed it!

_Phoebe turner_ – Hee! You'll need to wait and see!

_Piperfairy63_ – Ugh… damn essay, I'm glad you enjoyed it! Not the essay, the chapter lol!

_Andy20_ – That's seems to happening to a lot of people. I'm glad you liked it all!

_Kendallpaigecharity_ – Thanks!

**When Good Sisters Go Bad**

Shalimar Fox sat alone at the bar. She was planning on leaving soon and going to back to the hotel, as the loud music was giving her a headache. It was probably at the right volume for everyone else, but not for the feral. She put a hand through her blonde curly locks and signaled to the guy behind the bar to get her another before swiveling in her barstool to face out onto the club.

Loud fast paced music pounded out of the large speakers on the stage. The DJ held one headphone to his ear while spinning the records and smiling out to the people on the dance floor. Strobe lights flashed constantly, making the people who were dancing look like they were stopping every time the light came on, and then changing position in the dark before the light came back.

The slam of glass against glass caught her attention as she realized the bar tender had brought her another Cosmopolitan. She held the glass gracefully and took a small sip. Shalimar raised an eyebrow and cringed at a girl who hadn't made it to the street corner before vomiting. It was at the time of night when the weak were weeded out to go home and wake up with horrible hangovers in the morning; the strong would keep dancing until the early hours of the morning and still make it to work the next day looking like a million dollars.

The feline feral lowered her eyelids and turned her green eyes into small slits; she pursed her lips and took another sip. She was officially bored.

"Hey… beautiful!" A tall man approached her. It was all Shalimar could do to stop the smell of alcohol on his breath from making her vomit, "Maybe itsh the drink talking, but I think you are one…" His blinks were out of sync as he swayed on the spot, "Shexy gal!"

"Dear God…" She took another lazy sip from her drink. It was times like this she wished she carried pepper spray like all the other women her age, maybe then she could get rid of guy like this without scaring the crap out of them. Deciding that he was polluting her personal space with his breath, the feral decided to take care of him, "Do you think you're man enough for me?" She moved closer and smiled seductively. The man nodded wildly like one of those dogs you put in the back of your car, "Are you sure?" Shalimar grabbed his collar and pulled him closer so their noses almost met. She widened her eyes and they turned golden-yellow with two thin black lines in the middle. She then let a catty growl rumble in her throat before shoving the man away from her and scaring him enough to send the message loud and clear, even if he was completely out of it. Shalimar sighed and rubbed her neck before reaching into her jean pocket and slamming a twenty down on the counter, it was time to leave.

As she walked down the empty New York street, she began to wonder when traveling the world had became so boring to her. Perhaps it was something to do with the fact that she had been spending most of the last six months in the big cities instead of the widespread countryside that she loved so much. The feral decided that somewhere along those lines would be her next destination, but before she could think of a location; she stopped and put a hand on her stomach, suddenly feeling a pulling sensation. Naturally, she tried to fight it, but shining white lights began to swirl around her and the echoes of familiar voice rhyming caught her ear.

_Magic forces, black and white,_

_Reaching out through space and light,_

_Be she far, or be she near,_

_Bring us the feral, Shalimar here!_

The last line kept on being repeated. Shalimar kept on fighting whoever was summoning her. Even though she could sense it was a witch's power calling her, the feral wanted to make sure that this person really wanted her and wasn't just messing around, she was a powerful witch after all and a desirable ally. Shalimar continued fighting until the voice stopped chanting and talk to her, making her grin,

_C'mon Shal! Give up the act, it's me!_

After hearing the voice of her friend, Shalimar closed his eyes and let go. The swirling of the lights got louder and louder before they died down. The breeze of the outside was replaced with the warmth of the indoors. When she opened her eyes she was faced with Emma and a teenage girl who had brown-blonde hair.

"Hey Em!"

* * *

"Paige, I'm really not sure about this…" Leo said with his voice filled with doubt as his children, nephew and nieces crowded around him. Connor walked slowly over to his uncle, he still wasn't sure of walking. Wyatt and Chris pulled at the bassinets that held their little cousins, they moved easily as the bassinets were on wheels.

"Look…" Paige began as she reached for a potion ingredient from the kitchen cupboard in the Manor, "Phoebe is after power. Those five kids…" She waved a hand over the children, "Are probably some of the most powerful beings alive. You need to keep them safe!"

"But taking them "Up There"? I think that's a little too risky. The Elders will freak out!"

"And having a psycho super powerful Charmed One on the loose doesn't have them freaked out already? Just do it, and if they give you any grief over it, I will orb up there and give them a piece of my mind!"

Leo cringed at the thought. He could just imagine Paige pointing and yelling profanities at the Elders as they stood on the white steps of their chamber, and it was a scene he wanted to avoid.

"Alright… fine," He grumbled.

Paige beamed at him and went over to the bassinets, "Okay sweeties, you be good for your Uncle Leo, okay?" The twins cooed in response and gave their mother a little smile.

"Don't worry, I'll take care of them," He said before making sure everyone was connected to each other and orbing out. Pamela came into the kitchen with the Book of Shadows under her arm. She slammed it down on the counter and began to flick the black pages with her power, "Nothing… nothing…" She grabbed the cover and closed the book roughly, "Nothing! How the hell did she pull off this mumbo jumbo?"

The youngest sister shook her head, "I have no idea…" She dropped a shriveled up herb into the potion pot and watched the steam rise over the side.

"Hey!" Emma greeted as she walked into the kitchen with Shalimar at her heels.

"Hi…" Paige replied without looking up from the pot, until her eyes began to sting and her new power took her sight, "Aw, crap! Not again!" She moaned, until she looked up and saw two balls of light floating around where the kitchen door was, "Hey, I take you summoned your witch friend?"

"Yup. Paige, Shal, Shal Paige. You'll be able to get better acquainted when she can see you," Emma explained.

"Is this Phoebe's sister?" Shalimar whispered to her psionic friend, who nodded.

Shalimar had been brought up to speed on the way down from the attic. She had been completely confused be it, but after Emma had said that Phoebe had gone all "Ashlocke" on them, she knew exactly what she meant.

"Ah… that's better!" Paige rubbed her eyes as her normal sight came back, "Okay, hi," She held out her hand, "I'm Paige,"

"Shalimar." The feral greeted, something about this woman's scent was familiar, and then she realized, "Didn't we meet at Christmas a couple of years ago?"

Paige narrowed her eyes if she was thinking. She beamed, "Oh yeah! You were talking to Emma when I came to get the potion ingredient. I only remember so well because that's the first time I met Emma,"

Shalimar was about respond when a strange sound interrupted her. Everyone turned to the kitchen door and all gaped in surprise when a gargoyle flew slowly into the room. It grunted every time it flapped its small wings, one was bigger than the other. It nodded its head at the group, "Evenin' ladies," it greeted them with a scratchy voice before stopping on the table and taking a breath.

"Um…" Pamela raised an uncertain hand at the creature, "Does everyone else see the gargoyle sitting on the kitchen table?"

Paige gritted her teeth and took a deep breath, "I see it, and I don't believe it!"

"I need help out here!" Brennan yelled from the living room.

They could hear shouts from Brennan and the screeching of gargoyles coming from the other room. Paige groaned and buried her head in her hands, along with all the others, who had gotten used to Brennan's attitude to the unknown. Attack it.

"Um… Okay, I'll keep making these potions, you guys to deal with _him_," Paige ordered. She get along very well with her brother in law, but sometimes his attitude left a little to be desired.

"Hold on," Emma raised a hand and turned to the gargoyle, "Gargoyles are supposed to guard the most sacred of places from the greatest of evils. What are you doing in our kitchen?"

The gargoyle stopped biting his stone nails and spat out the remains, "Ask the lady upstairs, toots. She's the one who conjured us,"

Pamela rolled her eyes, "God… No wonder you look so crappy if Piper's the sculptor! Conjuring a living being is a tricky process and she seems to be mass producing them. These guys wouldn't last three seconds in fight with an _imp_, let alone Phoebe!"

The creature looked offended, "Hey! I can go up against the best of them! I'll take you on right now!"

"Okay, rude gargoyle later, out of control sister now," Paige ushered them out of the kitchen and went back to her potion.

When Shalimar, Emma and Pamela walked into the dining room to see Brennan swatting at the gargoyles that flew around him. His power had been taken by Phoebe so he couldn't just fire up a tesla coil and obliterate them all. Pamela threw up her hands at the attacking creatures and instead of blowing up; they dropped from the air and turned into lumps of clay.

"Handy…" Pamela mused as she picked up the clay, "I think I'll make my own!"

"Why did you that?" Brennan exclaimed, startling his niece.

"What? You mean save your ass? You're welcome," She said with disgust. The teen always got along well with Brennan, as he had had a hard childhood as she had had.

"I could take care of myself," He growled.

Emma stepped in front of the feral and her student, "You two go upstairs and stop Piper making these crappy creations." She said in a low voice that nobody argued with. Shalimar began to climb the stairs with Pamela close behind her,

"Are things always this-,"

"Crazy?"

"Yeah,"

"All the time,"

* * *

"Okay…" Piper tucked her hair behind her ears as she began to order the seven new gargoyles she had just conjured, "You." She pointed at an ugly one with a large horn, "Join your friend in the kitchen. You two, ground floor. The two of you take the first floor and you guys stay up here,"

The obscure stone creatures all took off, "Yes ma'am!" They all said in scratchy voice and began to flap their uneven wings to leave. Shalimar and Pamela ducked as the gargoyles shakily flew out of the door.

"Aunt Piper, why the hell are you filling our house with ugly ornaments?"

"Gargoyles sense evil and fight it. If Phoebe shows up here then we're gonna need a lot of fire power," She explained as if it was a completely normal thing to do as she sat back down at the table, preparing to mould the clay in the bowl. Pamela folded her arms and sighed,

"If you insist on this little pottery session, then leave it to me,"

"What?" Piper gave her a cynical look, "You?"

She snorted in response, "Trust me, I've made a few gargoyles in my time. All of them loyal, powerful, and amazing guardians!"

"Okay miss expert," Piper folded her arms and laid them on the table, "What do I need to know?"

"Although you don't need to know anything since I'm taking over, I'll educate you anyway. Rule one," She put up a finger, "If you're conjuring multiple gargoyles, then you need to create one that's more powerful than the rest. One that can act as their general. Rule two," She held up two fingers, "When molding a gargoyle, make sure it's correctly proportioned! And rule three… well, there is no rule three, just get out and leave me to it,"

* * *

"What the hell is your problem?" Emma spat with her arms folded as she stared Brennan down on the sofa.

"Nothing…" He growled, standing up walking over to the window to look at the dark street outside.

She shook her head in disgust, "I can't believe you stripped her of her powers! What were you thinking? Not only did you but Phoebe in danger without her powers, but what would you have done if a demon came after Connor when you weren't there, huh? Phoebe wouldn't have been able to protect him. You put your entire family in danger also, or did you just forget your wife's a Charmed One?"

"Emma… just shut up."

"No! You need to hear this; do you have some sort of complex?"

Brennan bit his tongue and silently opened his jacket. He pulled out a folder and threw it at the psionic, who quickly glanced at the cover before opening it. Her eyes widened with every line she read.

"Is this-,"

"Yeah," He walked over to her, "Lexa and Jesse brought it with them when they visited them,"

Emma looked at him, her anger now fading when he realized why he had done what he done. It still didn't make it right though, "Well, that explains how she became like this. The power didn't just come from the rage that she felt when she got her powers back; it's been inside of her all along,"

"The rage?"

"No…" She smirked, "The power." But the psionic then turned dark, "But you better get over this little problem you have with Phoebe being stronger than you, because if we can't fix this, we're going to have only one option,"

He looked up from the ground, "Don't you dare…"

"We won't have a choice!" She raised her voice, revealing some of the darkness and aggression that was buried within her. The psionic walked back into the kitchen, leaving Brennan to seethe…

* * *

Piper sat at the counter propping up her head with her hands while she watched her younger sibling make a potion. She groaned and ran a hand through her long hair as Emma came into the room,

"I'm sorry you guys, I just really don't know how to react from this. I mean, I could sort of sense it coming, but…"

"Hold it," Paige objected as she started to fill vials, "How could you sense it?"

"I don't know. It's a big sister thing, I can always sense if something's up with you or Phoebe. There's just been this nagging feeling in the back of my mind ever since she came home."

"What kind of feeling?"

Piper smiled, "The kind you don't act upon,"

"Hey…" The gargoyle flew to the island with great effort and winked at Emma, "How about you and me, Saturday night?"

She smiled politely and backed towards Paige, "I have a better idea…" Emma suddenly lunged for one of the potion vials and threw it at the creature. It made contact and turned him into dust in a shower of red sparks. She gave Paige an impressed look, "Third level combustion mixture. Very nice," The potions teacher said.

"Why thank you, Miss DeLauro," Paige answered cheekily.

Piper looked at them with amazement, "What are you guys being so calm and cheery through all this?"

Emma was the first to answer, "I've went through a lot of tense situations in my life. You learn how to deal with them after a while… that's quite sad actually," She seemed to mull this statement over.

"What's your excuse?" She turned to Paige

The witchlighter wore a strained smile, "No point in falling apart in these kinds of situation, is there?"

* * *

Pamela smiled triumphantly at her creation sitting on the table. She cringed at her dirty hands before going back to marvel at her masterpiece. The still gargoyle had small horns pointing out of its skull; they were just the right size to match the perky ears. Pamela had remembered to give the creature muscular legs so it could take off with a powerful and swift jump and strong arms if it had to fight hand to hand combat without the powers it would receive from the infused magic. But she was probably most proud of the wings. Every sculptor had a trademark, and Pamela's was having her gargoyles with two different wings. The one on the right was in the shape of a bats wing; it was boney and had a dark sharpness about it. The one on the left was in the form of an angel's wing, each feather was beautifully crafted. It would have taken a normal person months to make this, but it only took about an hour for a telekinetic witch. Shalimar gaped at the teen's work.

"That really is amazing," She complimented.

"Thanks! I actually think this is one of my best," She replied as she wiped her hands with a cloth.

"Have you got anything to infuse it with magic?"

The Halliwell pondered for a while before grinning, "I have just the thing…" She reached into her shirt and pulled out a golden heart shaped locket and stared at it for a while, "This thing has enough power to make this gargoyle one of the strongest out there, and still have enough left over to perform its real purpose,"

Shalimar gave the necklace a strange look, her cat side immediately entranced with how it shone in the dim light, or was it glowing? "What is it?"

Pamela took a deep breath as she took it off and placed it carefully in front of the gargoyle, "Friendship…" She replied simply before bringing out a piece of paper and saying the spell to bring the gargoyle to life.

"What once was stone, shall now be real,

To see, to sense, to touch, to feel,

With this offer, it shall fly,

To my side and never die,"

The locket glowed white hot before shooting a stream of light into the stone figure. Both witches had to turn their eyes away from the table with the brilliant light that shone forth. When the brightness finally came to a stop, Pamela turned back round to witness her creation's first movement. A twitch of the ears, then blinking, and finally a ruffle of his mismatched wings, which looked even better as they moved. The gargoyle stood proudly and made a bow towards Pamela.

"Miss, I am at your service," He said politely.

Pamela couldn't believe it. She grinned and picked up the locket again, putting it round her neck, "Thank you, Persia!" She said quite greedily as she grinned at the moving sculpture on the table,

"Would you like me to secure the perimeter?"

"Um… yeah. Go do… what you do!" She waved her hands at him, ordering him to take off. Even though his wings were made of stone, the devil wing would flinch now and again and the feathers on the angel wing would flutter as the gargoyle flew through the air.

"I am Arc. And I shall remain so unless to decide to rename me under your rule," He said before taking off with a powerful jump and flying out the open window at high speeds.

"Won't someone see him?" Shalimar questioned.

"Who cares? He can obviously take care of himself; we have more pressing issues to attend to,"

The feral smirked and folded her arms, waiting to see what would be the next thing to come out of Pamela's mouth, "Oh really?"

She nodded, "I have a feeling your not the kind of girl to settle things with a 'war of words' am I right?"

Shal paused before nodding, "I guess you're right. I usually settle things a different way," She made her eyes flash golden. Pamela pretended not to be impressed,

"That's what I thought. So how about you and I go deal with my aunt the old fashioned way?"

"Hunt her down and kick her ass?"

"Exactly,"

* * *

Steam flowed from a crack in the manhole of a San Francisco alley. The place was deadly silent, the only disturbance was when a bag of trash finally lost balance on the top of a dumpster and fell to the ground. The air began to distort and waver as dark skinned man with a red cloak shimmered into the area. His face was bleeding and his cloak was covered in mid and dirt.

"You know, I'm getting tired of this game. Don't you know the cat always gets the mouse in the end?" Phoebe's voice echoed as she appeared out of nowhere in front of the shaman, whose face was now contorted in fear.

"This wasn't how it was supposed to be!" He cried, "You should be under my control! Why else do you think I gave you those potions?"

Phoebe shook her head as she stared the man with black eyes, "I came to you to help get my powers under control, all the time I knew what you were doing to me. And it's because of you that I'm like this now… thanks!"

The desperate demon tried one more bargain, "I can show you your future. How it ends, the final battle!"

She laughed heartlessly in response, "You're talking to psychic sister of the Charmed Ones, doc! If I wanted to, I could see what really came first, the chicken, or the egg? And I could just as easily go in the other direction towards my future without your help," The witch cocked her head slightly, "Although, a little power boost wouldn't hurt,"

The shaman's eyes widened, "No! Please! Don't!"

She rolled her lifeless eyes, "You're pissing me off…" With that last remark, a black stream of psychic energy shot from her forehead. It consumed the shaman quickly and he blew up immediately. Phoebe smiled as the powers o her victim entered her.

"Wow… I'm starting to think you're a power-aholic," a voice said.

Phoebe didn't even have to turn around, "Hi Pam, and Shalimar! What a surprise!" She turned around, "What were you saying? I always get a bit of a rush when I absorb powers. Demons especially. You wouldn't believe how many I've killed,"

"So not only have you taken your husband and sister's powers, and but you're now loading up on demonic powers? What's the matter Pheebs, feel as if you can't compete," Shalimar asked cheekily and raised an eyebrow.

She snorted in response, "Coming from you, what's your power again Shal? Oh right, I remember. Leaping from tall buildings, being strong and making your eyes go funky. A lady wrestler with contact lenses and a pogo stick could do all you can do,"

Shalimar narrowed her eyes and made them go feral, letting a growl fly from her throat, "You're going to be sorry you said that…"

"Oh please…" She rolled her eyes again before igniting electricity in her hands, a lot like Brennan, "You like this power? So do I, given… or stole from my husband. Want to see it up close?" She fired the lightning from her hands too quickly for Pamela to dodge and she was hit by the attack. Shalimar however, had jumped out of the way just in time, "I might as well take your powers, I could use a bit of muscle,"

"I'd to see you get close enough to try,"

"That's the thing, you won't," Phoebe suddenly faded from sight. Shalimar didn't know that she had tapped into Piper's invisibility power and was now using it to creep closer.

"You can't hide that easily," The feral shouted, quickly scanning the area for any people shaped heat patterns with her powers, but she didn't see anything.

"Did you just forget I could levitate?" A voice came from above. Shalimar looked up just in time to see a foot shaped heat pattern hit her face. Phoebe hit her with supernatural strength and she was sent flying into the back of the alley, smashing off the wall and falling to the ground with her head gushing with blood.

Phoebe returned from her invisible made and walked casually over to an unconscious Shalimar. She turned over the feral and her hand glowed as she threw it into her chest, draining the mutant witch of all her abilities.

"N… no…" Pamela whispered as she came to, struggling to get up from the voltage she had been hit with. She looked at her aunt with so much anger, that the real Phoebe shone through for a moment, her eyes turning back to normal for one second before she knelt down,

"I know sweetie, no one likes to lose," She said with arrogance before thrusting her hand into Pamela's chest and drained her of her powers, feeling the ecstasy of receiving new abilities. At that moment, pink and blue orbs fell from the sky and took on the form of Piper, Emma, Paige and Brennan.

"You guys are just in time…" Phoebe smirked as she began to walk towards them.

"ENOUGH!" Emma bellowed, firing a psionic blast from her forehead and hitting Phoebe in between the eyes. That was all she remembered before it went black…

* * *

Emma opened her eyes, or she thought she did, as all she could see was black around her. To test herself, she brought her hand up to her face and could see it. Good, that meant that she wasn't blind, "Hello?" She called out, trying to think of what had happened.

Phoebe suddenly appeared across from her, Emma took a defensive stance, ready to fight if she had to. But the Halliwell look more pissed than power hungry.

"Look what you've done!" She shouted.

"What? You know where we are?"

Phoebe put her hands on her hips and stared at her opponent with black eyes, "Of course I do! You've pulled us into a mind duel!"

* * *

**NEXT TIME:** The mind duel begins. Emma and Phoebe seem to be tied until Emma falls for an illusion and is stripped of her powers. With Paige being the only one with powers left, she takes on Phoebe by herself. She is cornered by her older sister and prepares to lose her powers and probably die. Can_ anyone_ save her?

Chapter 19 **"Witch Fight"** should be up soon!


	19. Witch Fight

_Phiona_- You have to wait and find out!

_Unique deflection_ – We'll find out about the new Fire Elemental after I wrap things up with this Phoebe subplot.

_Piperfairy_ – Hee! You're probably right with your thought! Read on and it out!

_Phoebe turner_ – I'll say nothing, except that I think you'll like this chapter ;)

Princess Pinky – Thanks! I do try with Pamela! And I'm glad you liked the way I used the locket, and that power that Pamela used from it will be put to good use, trust me! Hee, I think you'll like the end of this chapter, I think everyone will!

_Charmed greek_ – Here's the next chapter!

_Prince Halliwell_ – I'm glad you liked it all! And yup, remember when Phoebe went to him for help? Well, that's where it started! And I think I've updated pretty quickly, don't you?

_Kendall paige charity_ – Ha ha, wait and find out!

**Witch Fight**

Piper stared at the slightly eerie composure of both Emma and Phoebe. They stood in a comatose, facing each other. Both of their eyes were wide open as they looked at each other. Anyone would have thought that they were just staring at each other, if it wasn't for the large pink stream of energy that was connecting both of them at the head. She stole a quick glance at her niece, who would snarl at anyone who would try to talk to her at the moment. Pamela had had her powers all her life, and now she was suddenly left without them, she felt so defeated. Shalimar was another one had had her powers all life; she kept staring at her fist as if it meant nothing without her feral abilities.

"Okay, spell's cast. No one can see us here," Paige announced as she came back into the alley.

"Thanks," Piper replied, "You're really the only one with powers now,"

The witchlighter frowned, "I'm glad to see you have such confidence in Emma," Was the sarcastic response.

"I do, I just think we should prepare for the worst. Leo!" She shouted out into the night air for her husband, who lit up the alley as he appeared in a shower of orbs, "Where are the kids?"

"Oh… I left them up there, I thought it would be safer since you could have been calling me into a fight," He said.

"Okay," She accepted, "I think you should order a lock down on empaths and whitelighters until this things dealt with. If Phoebe gets Emma's powers then she could orb up there and decimate the Elders,"

Paige snorted a laugh, "Where's the bad side to that?"

Leo smiled at his sister in law, "Actually, they've already ordered the lock down. There are only a couple of stragglers left until we can seal off the heavens,"

"How are the girls?" Paige asked with concern and love flowing from her voice.

"They're fine. I think they like the clouds a lot!"

"How's Connor?" Brennan asked as walked over from looking at his wife.

"Fine." Leo said stiffly, "Wyatt and Chris are keeping him amused,"

Piper shot her husband a look. It wasn't the time for blaming each other, "Okay, just try and keep us posted, okay? I don't want anything to go wrong right now. It could cost Phoebe her life,"

"No problem," The elder replied before orbing away…

* * *

Emma gasped as a stream of energy came towards her. She suddenly disappeared and hid behind a boulder she had managed to conjure instantaneously. The two psychic witches were now fighting on a stone arena that was surrounded by searing hot lava. It had been created by the intensity of their fight. The energy stream shattered the boulder instantly and Emma teleported out of its line of fire to face Phoebe, whose hand was still glowing from the power that had been thrown from it.

"Don't you just love mind duels? The only limits are your mental abilities, not your powers," The Halliwell smirked as she prepared to fire another energy blast.

"You talk too much…" Emma growled as her eyes glazed over with ice. Two beams of blue-white magic flew from her eyes and blasted Phoebe to the edge of the arena, making her almost fall into the molten lava below.

The psionic scrambled to side, to see if she had succeeded in knocking her opponent off but when she picked up on something behind her, she teleported out of way just in time to dodge an energy blast.

"Damn…" Phoebe cursed as Emma reappeared in front of her, "You know that I have a lot more power than you Emma. It'll only be a matter of time before a wear you down and take your powers, along with the rest of the magical community,"

Emma's eyes widened, "That's your plan? Phoebe, that'll decimate all magic!"

"And all of it will reside inside me. Can you think of a greater power?"

The mutant walked carefully towards her, "And what happens when the only power left is the one that is in your son? Huh? Are you going to be so heartless as to drain Connor of his powers then kill him?" She knew she had struck a chord when Phoebe's eyes went back to normal for a brief second.

But it didn't last long, "Of course I will, I want all magic. And you're not going to stand in my way!" She shouted as electricity smote in her hands, conjuring herself a new power.

"Maybe not, but how about three of me?" Emma looked to her left and Phoebe followed her eyes. She gaped when she saw another Emma walking towards her. The psionic in the middle then turned to her right, where another clone was walking towards them! "You might think that you're all powerful, but I've still have some tricks left up my sleeve,"

"Me too," The clones said in unison before al three Emma's fired streams of pink energy from their forehead. They blasted Phoebe with all their might, making her scream in pain and fall to her knees…

* * *

"Okay, I think its time for some precautions," Paige announced to everyone as she reached into her jacket, "C'mon, gather round. These things could save you!" she pulled out a satchel that made a clinking noise when it moved.

"I doubt you can fit a miracle into a satchel, maybe a shopping cart," Pamela quipped.

Paige shot her niece a look, "Okay, for you powerless ones!" She handed the satchel to Piper, "Replicate your exploding power. You'll know when you use them better than any of us," She pulled out another silk bag and handed it to Brennan, "These send electrical pulses through their victim," The next one she had went to Pamela, "These encase the enemy in ice, I think you'll remember them," Paige winked, "And finally…" She handed a satchel to Shalimar, "Each one of these will give you temporary bursts of supernatural strength and speed,"

"You want me to send electrical pulses through my wife?" Brennan raised an eyebrow as he looked at the luminous green potion in his hand.

"Yeah, before she can do it to you!" Paige warned.

"Hold on, what if she takes your powers? Do you have a back up?" Shalimar questioned. Piper nodded in agreement.

"I do, except I don't need a potion, I just orb the hell out of there!" She caused everyone to laugh even though they were on edge at what would happen when the link of psychic energy broke and left them with one winner…

* * *

The three Emma's continued their assault on Phoebe. Each of them mercilessly firing beams of psychic power at the form that was now on her knees. She screamed in pain again but Emma kept going, if she really was in pain, the duel would have ended.

The psionic suddenly noticed a flash in Phoebe's eyes; they turned back to the green they had been before her powers had taken her over. Emma immediately stopped her onslaught and the clones disappeared, "Phoebe?" She whispered.

The witch looked up at her with tear filled eyes, "Emma…" She breathed out before she began to sob into her hands. Emma knelt down next to her,

"Shh…. It's okay, you're okay now," She put a hand on Phoebe's shoulder. The lava around the arena began to disappear, along with the stone platform they had been fighting on, it was over.

Or that's what Emma thought.

Phoebe's eyes suddenly returned to their black state and she shoved her hand into Emma's chest. The psionic looked at her friend with a hurt look as she was drained of her powers. With a defiant whimper, Emma slumped to floor as Phoebe stood up, smirking at that she had done.

"Sucker…"

* * *

Everyone jumped as the tie between Emma and Phoebe cut abruptly and Emma was sent flying into a dumpster. Piper and Pamela were first to react, throwing their potions at the super powerful witch, but all the mixtures did was cause a small singe in her clothes and a small patch of frost on her shoulder, which she shook off effortlessly.

"That the best you got?" She smirked before walking briskly towards Paige, her final target.

A tower of sand and a tornado of wind began to form and after they had disappeared, Grant and Skye stood in their place. They both fired their respective powers; Grant threw a barrage of rocks from his hands while Skye blasted lightning. Phoebe didn't have time to react as the attacks hit her, sending the witch flying into the air and skidding across the ground.

Phoebe levitated from the ground to pick herself up, "I'll be back…" She warned, before disappearing in a swirl of pink orbs.

Paige pouted, "Does everyone do that except me?"

Grant helped Emma to her feet as she came to, "Are you okay?"

She rubbed her temples, "Yeah, how do you always come when I need you the most?" Emma smiled at her boyfriend.

He grinned, "It's a gift," He replied, before kissing softly and putting his hand on the back of her head while she placed her hands on his shoulders. Paige suddenly cleared her throat loudly and broke up the kiss. She was still slightly bitter about seeing her best friend so happy with an Elemental when her relationship had ended so tragically.

"What are you two doing here?" Piper questioned, knowing that Grant wasn't really around that often and Emma always took advantage of the times they had together.

"That's what I'd like to know!" The teenage wind elemental turned to Grant, "I am on my way to the new club that opened downtown, and he suddenly sands in and grabs me!"

"H2o?" Pamela questioned before waving her hand, "Nah, I've been. You're not missing much, I can assure you, too many fish tanks,"

Skye nodded in agreement, "Yeah, I heard that the manager's an ex-con. Do you what is a really good club is? The one just at the corner before you get on the Bridge, ugh! I can't remember what it's called!"

Pamela gaped, "Oh God, the bartenders there are so cute! I made out with one of last year. Dark hair… brown eyes…"

"Tall?" Skye questioned. Pamela nodded, "I made out with him too…" There was an awkward silence after that until Piper broke it,

"Okay, if we can put the minors sneaking into clubs aside, can you tell us why you're here?"

"I really only sensed it because Emma was in trouble," Grant replied bashfully.

Paige snorted out a laugh, "So basically you are her knight in shining armour a couple of times and you'll get a quick screw?"

"Paige!" Emma and Piper scolded in unison.

"I'm going to get the potions I prepared for Emma," She replied stiffly before orbing out. Emma rubbed her temples again,

"What are we going to do with her?"

Piper rolled her eyes, "Let's take it one psychotic sister at a time, shall we?"

* * *

Paige stood in the kitchen leaning next to the sink. She stared at the row of orange potions that stood in the island. They were the potions that she had prepared for Emma incase she had her powers taken.

She shook her head, fighting back the tears in her eyes. Why was this bothering her so much? Aidan had been out of her life for seven months! Hell, she had even gone a few dates during her pregnancy and one after it. She hadn't into the guys she had been out with, but it was a start.

The front door creaked open and Emma's voice rang through the air, "Paige! Where are you?"

The witchlighter could tell her friend was angry when she heard Piper babbling, trying to calm down the psionic. Emma stormed into the kitchen and glared at her best friend, "What the hell was that back there? You embarrassed me, Grant and yourself!"

"I'm sorry…" Paige replied, Emma's eyes widened, "What else do you want me to say?"

"I want you to say what's on your mind!" She cried, moving closer, "You haven't been right ever since the twins were born, what's wrong with you?"

"Nothing…" She said in such a tone that Emma decided to back off, "Here, take these, they're sorta like mind disruptors," She put all the potions into a pouch and handed them to Emma.

"Thanks, although I don't think they're going to do much good against Phoebe. I heard the ice and explosion potions didn't even make a dent in her,"

Paige nodded, "Yeah, that's why I'm going to fight her…"

* * *

Pamela paced her room, rolling the golden locket around her neck in her fingers as her shoes clicked on the wooden floor. She had been thinking of anything that might help, she was the daughter of the supposed "Superwitch" so if she couldn't think of something, no one could.

At this moment in time, Pamela could only think of one person that would have enough power to take on Phoebe directly, but she also knew that a certain family member would kill her if she called him,

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" She spun round to see Piper walking into the room.

"Do you really see another way? He definitely has enough power," Pamela responded.

She sighed "Paige would kill us,"

"She would also be alive, along with the rest of us. Aunt Piper, I think that Aunt Phoebe is just taking our powers so she can get rid of us easily in one go,"

"Well, it sounds like you don't agree with Paige,"

"What are you talking about?"

Piper nodded towards the door, "She downstairs saying that she's going to take on Phoebe by herself, which I think is suicide after we took her on directly and ended up powerless,"

"Did she drop a couple billion brain cells? She'll get killed!"

"That's what I said, she's not budging. I'm going to go back downstairs, try one last time. You coming?"

Pamela looked at the piece of paper on her desk next to her laptop, "Um… yeah, just give me a minute,"

Piper nodded and left the room, once her niece was sure that she gone. She crept over to her desk and picked up the pen and paper. She began to write a spell that would bring the one they needed…

* * *

"My mind is made up," Paige said firmly to Shalimar and Emma. She folded her arms across her chest as she sat in the living with the two mutants standing over her; they were convinced she had lost it.

"Are you kidding me?" Shalimar exclaimed, "We've all seen what psycho Phoebe can do. Where is Brennan? He should be in here helping us!"

"Brooding in the kitchen, leave him," Emma rolled her eyes, "Honey, what makes you think you can beat her? I mean, in that mind duel, I could conjure anything I wanted, make myself as strong as I wanted and she still bet me."

"I don't have to beat her, I just need to get through to her," She stopped to register Piper coming down the stairs, "You said that her eyes went back normal, right?" The witchlighter questioned Emma.

"Yeah but that was when I mentioned Connor, and I don't think you're going to get in any deeper unless you have Connor with you."

She shook her head immediately, "I'm not putting my little nephew in danger,"

"Then how will you get through to her? Taking her powers doesn't really seem to tug at her conscience," Piper argued.

"Maybe not, but I doubt she would actually kill me or you. I mean, we're her sisters, if she kills us then she's truly evil,"

Emma scoffed at this answer, "She didn't really seem bothered at the thought of killing her own son, what makes you think sisters come before children?"

Paige sighed and shook her head, "Look, I don't care what you guys think, I'm orbing you to Magic School and that's final," Piper started a protest, "Don't Piper, and don't even think of casting a spell to get back here once a send you because I'll send you right back…"

Shalimar smirked, "If she's made up her mind, we can't change it,"

Emma looked shocked, "Shal!"

"Oh, c'mon Em, we've all witnessed and been victims to the Halliwell stubbornness. If this is what she wants then we can't stop her,"

"But-,"

"Shal's right," Brennan said as he came into the room, "We can't talk her out of it. And we need to deal with this as quickly as possible," Everyone was surprised by this. Brennan had taken a back seat during this whole disaster, now he was finally talking, "Good luck…" He said to his sister in law.

"Thanks…"

* * *

Paige stood in the foyer of the silent Manor. The quiet was almost deathly as no one was in it except Paige herself. She walked into the living room and flicked through the blank pages of the Book of Shadows, just to entertain her for while as the silence was deafening. She just wished that Phoebe would hurry up and attack, as it was the suspense that was killing her, and not supreme psychic energy.

She walked back into the foyer and grunted with annoyance, until the chandelier began to shake above her, it didn't long for Paige to realize that everything was shaking! The pictures on the walls, the ornaments on the tables, a table lamp fell off its surface and smashed on the floor. Paige suddenly sensed something coming straight towards her and wisely orbed out before an advanced telekinetic blast flew through the front door, blasting it off its hinges and sending everything in its path flying into the air. Phoebe appeared in the hallway in a cloud of pink orbs, looking around wildly for Paige, who orbed back in to see the damage.

"Piper is going to kill you when she sees what you did with Pam's power," She warned, like a sister would do.

"A messy house is the least of my worries right now," She smirked, "Are you going to give me your powers or put up a pathetic fight like everyone else?"

"You're the big ass fortune teller, you tell me?"

Instead of replying, Phoebe raised her hand and fired a powerful energy blast, the power crackled in her hand as she fired it. Before it made contact, Paige disappeared in the red flare and left her sister stunned.

"I love having my astral projection power," Paige said as she orbed in behind Phoebe, "It's useful," Phoebe growled as she fired a black stream of psychic power from her forehead, "Mirror!" She called for a small mirror that was lying in the wreckage and held it in front of her face. The psychic attack bounced off and hit Phoebe, sending her into the dining room and smashing a vase on the table.

"That's another good power," Paige taunted.

Phoebe gritted her teeth and picked herself up, "You won't last for long…" She growled, disappearing in pink orbs, Paige did the same; she wasn't going to get caught out. She tried to scan the area with her multi dimensional sight, but she still hadn't got a handle of it! But the astral plane finally came into view and she saw pink orbs floating around in the air next to air

Paige retuned to her real form and landed, as did her sister. They stared each other down until Paige spoke,

"Why are you doing this? Why are hurting the people that love you?"

She rolled her eyes, "Not this again. Why are you all so preachy?"

Paige looked disgusted and threw out her arm to the right, making Phoebe fly into the sunroom and crash into the metal table. Paige just stood there, waiting for a smart comment or something to come from that direction, but it never came.

"Phoebe?" She called out nervously, pacing slowly into the foyer to get a better view as she had blasted Phoebe into the sunroom from the dining room.

"Guess again…" a voice came from behind her. Paige turned around just in time for Phoebe's black stream of mental energy to hit her in the stomach and pin her to the wall at the side of the stairs.

"Oh God…" Paige whispered in her last moment of consciousness, "Somebody please help me…"

The black beam ended and she fell to the floor in a pathetic position. Phoebe walked over to her and glared at the motionless body on the floor, "It's over," She snarled as she prepared to kneel down and take Paige's powers.

Suddenly, a large blue light shot from the front doors, Phoebe turned around, wide eyed and took the blast into her chest. She flew back into the dining room and sailed across the table, smashing into a set of cupboards at the back of room. The witch sat up and blinked a few times, touching her lip and realizing it was bleeding. She stood up and stared at her attacker.

Aidan Parker stood at the door with an expression of fierce determination on his face. The Trident of Poseidon was in his right hand while his left hand was outstretched in the direction the blast had been fired in. His blonde hair almost covered his eyes and he was dressed in jeans and wore a white t-shirt on his muscular torso. The King of Atlantis lowered his hand and smirked,

"Guess again…"

* * *

**NEXT TIME:** Aidan, who has now accepted the powers of his position, takes on Phoebe and forces her into a retreat. Paige orders Leo to keep the twins out of their father's sight. And with the Water Elemental back, the group hatches a plan to bring Phoebe back, but will it all be over?

Chapter 20 **"Rolling Out The Red Carpet"** should be up soon!


	20. Rolling Out The Red Carpet

Piperfairy – Ugh… I know, the links are messed up, I'll try and fix the problem as soon as I have my own computer back (this is my sister's) and you're right! It'll be far from over once Phoebe is back to normal!

Anianka – Oh yes, a lot of agro in this chapter, but maybe a little bit of love too. Thank you! I sorta have a working title, the sequel might be called "Their Cross To Bear" but I haven't decided yet. Lol, what a lovely daydream! Thank you! Arc is in the next chapter!

Ravenix – She didn't use astral simulations because they aren't real and Phoebe would have caught them out immediately, astral projection was a lot safer to do.

Phiona – She's afraid that he'll try and take them away from her, and about the eyes thing, let's just call it a little screw up ;)

Phoebe turner – He doesn't know, but the twins will make sure that he doesn't stay in the dark for long!

Princess Pinky – Lol, I always try to add a little comedy, and I think Skye is a lot like Pam. And yes, he's back! But for how long! There'll be a lot of Grant in the future as I plan on going forwards about a year after a while, although I don't know if I will.

Kendallpaigecharity – Was this quick enough? I'm glad you liked it! And you'll have to read and find out!

Prince Halliwell – Lol, is this a quick enough update? I'm glad you liked all of it! And yes, Aidan's even more powerful than when he left at the finale of the last story! That's not the reason for Paige's decision. And don't worry! Phoebe will be back to normal at the end of this chapter but this subplot won't be over until the next one!

Andy20 – Thanks! Lol, you didn't? You'll see the plan in this chapter!

**Rolling Out The Red Carpet**

Phoebe wiped the blood from her lip, "It's not polite to hit a lady," She scoffed as she stood up.

"Chivalry's dead," Aidan replied, stealing a glance at his knocked out ex, before turning back to his opponent, raising the trident and preparing to fight. The witch let out a laugh,

"You could've fooled me," Phoebe smirked, "Who fights with a pitchfork in this day and age?"

"Me and this pitchfork are gonna kick your ass,"

She laughed, "Alright then, if that's the way you want to play it…" She swirled her hands around, tapping into Brennan's powers and throwing a tesla coil out towards Aidan, who managed to instantly dissolve into water and dodge the blast. Unbeknownst to Phoebe, he reformed right next to her and blasted a blue light from his palm; she took it in the side and was thrown into the kitchen. The elemental followed her in, spinning the Trident of Poseidon over his head over bringing it down on the floor. But the prongs clanged off the floor and a haze of pink orbs was left behind

"Damn…" He cursed as he turned around to see Phoebe standing there. She seemed to be tired and out of energy as she was breathing heavily and swaying on the spot. Aidan brought his weapon to his shoulder and threw it like a javelin. The trident flew towards Phoebe at an amazing speed and grazed her arm before impaling the wall. The witch but a hand over her bloodied side and the lights flickered as she disappeared.

Aidan left the weapon embedded in the wall and jogged back into the foyer. He scrambled along the ground and released a blue glow from his hands over Paige…

* * *

Brennan sat in a large comfy chair of the nursery while he bounced Connor up and down on his lap; he smiled when his son began to laugh. How could he have been so stupid? Now, because of him, Connor may grow up without his mother. He couldn't let that happen.

"I can't anyone would ever call us bad parents," Piper said to Leo as they watched Wyatt and Chris play with one another on the floor.

"Honey, we're not bad parents," He assured her.

"Oh yeah? Then why has someone called Social Services on us? I'm scared Leo, with all the things that go on in our lives, one slip up could cost us our children!" Leo was about respond, when a shriek from Emma interrupted them,

"Pam! What were you thinking?" Her voice came from the corridor as she stormed into the nursery holding a piece of paper.

"Shut up! The twins are asleep!" Piper hissed, "Did you send Shalimar back,"

Emma roiled her eyes and replied through gritted teeth, "Yes, can I bitch now?"

"Do it quietly," The eldest Charmed One warned.

"I said I was sorry," Pamela said as she came in, "It didn't even work anyway!"

"Someone get me up to speed," Piper protested.

Emma shot a look at her student, "You niece tried to summon Aidan!"

"What?"

"Look at this!" The psionic threw the piece of paper in Piper's direction, she scanned it over quickly, her eyes widening with every line she read.

"I don't see what the big deal is. It didn't even work anyway!" She looked quite disappointed at that fact.

Piper groaned and held the paper up, "Yeah, you want to know why it didn't work? Look at this "In our hour of greatest need" if you put that in a spell, he'll only come in the hour of our greatest need, that's why it says "In our hour of greatest need"! What were you thinking?"

"I was thinking of saving everyone!" She cried with a slight tone, "We've all had our powers taken away, what's the harm of calling for someone who has enough power to take Phoebe down?"

"Oh God… Paige…" Emma just realized, "Our hour of greatest need will be when Paige is about to get her powers taken away. She's our last line of defense,"

"Which means…?" Pamela shrugged.

"Aidan is probably here!"

* * *

Paige began to back away slowly, raising a shaky arm and waving her finger warningly, "You… you stay away from me," She continued to back away as her voice cracked up.

"Paige…" Aidan didn't really know what say. What could you say to the love of your life that you left seven months ago?

"Just… don't!" She yelled, "Go to Hell!"

"Paige, just listen to me!" He made the mistake of moving closer. She raised her clenched fist and brought it across his cheek, punching him.

"Bastard…" She snarled, before leaving a swirl of bright lights. Aidan winced as he moved his jaw, still reeling from Paige's assault. As he massaged his cheek, a larger cloud of orbs began to appear taking on the form of Emma, Brennan, Leo, Piper and Pamela.

"Oh my God…" Emma breathed.

Pamela frowned and walked up to the elemental, she smacked him on the arm, "It's about time! I summoned you an hour ago!" She scolded him, as if he had never left at all.

"Sorry," He winced again at the pain in his jaw. Pamela smirked.

"Did she hit you? Again?" She said, referring to Paige slapping Aidan in the tunnels of Atlantis,"

He narrowed his eyes, "I'm standing here holding my jaw, what do you think?"

"It's what he deserves," Piper scoffed, "Just leaving Paige preg-," She was cut off by Emma hitting her back lightly, "Never mind,"

"Where's Paige?" Emma asked with a stern expression on her face.

"She orbed out after socking me one,"

Pamela raised her eyebrows, "Wow, if I had been her, I'd have brought my knee up in between your legs. You got off lucky in my book,"

"I'll be sure to warn your future boyfriends," He replied, taking his hand away from his face and holding it to the side. The Trident of Poseidon flew out of the wall and returned to its master's hand.

"Are you sticking around? We could use your help," Leo said. Aidan registered the first non offensive comment since him coming here.

"Well, you guys seem to need me. Pamela wouldn't have summoned me if you didn't," He smirked at Pamela, who was getting looks off Piper and Emma.

"Yeah, you're right," Piper and Emma gaped, "What? It's true; Paige is the only one with powers left! Besides Uncle Leo of course,"

Aidan suddenly remembered, "Hey man," He said to his old friend, "I wounded Phoebe with the trident," He tapped the spike on the bottom off the floor, "So she'll probably be after your self healing ability."

"How badly did you wound her?" Brennan said with a raised voice. Who was guy to come in after seven months and stab his wife with a pitchfork?

"I grazed her left side. I don't think it's serious but it'll hurt like hell," Aidan replied, suddenly realizing he didn't know who this person was.

"Oh, sorry. Aidan, Brennan, Brennan Aidan," Piper quickly introduced them. The two men just mumbled their answers. They all shared an awkward silence until Emma decided to speak,

"We should probably go and regroup at Magic School. Phoebe won't be able to get in; we'll be safe there until we can think of something. Are you going to join us?" She questioned the Water Elemental, everyone turned to him, waiting for an answer.

"Sure, I haven't been there for ages,"

* * *

"Uncle Aidan!" Chris cried as he jumped up from the floor and hugged Aidan's leg as he came into the nursery. The three year old was very fond of the elemental and had been upset when he left, but not as upset as his Aunt Paige.

"Hey, big guy!" He grinned and lifted Chris up, "Wow! Look at how much you've grown!"

"Your haiw's all long!" The little boy pointed out that Aidan's hair almost went down past his eyes.

"Yeah, yours too,"

"Where's Paige?" Piper asked Mrs. Winterbourne, who was setting Connor down for a nap in one of the cribs.

"Oh, she took the twins out into the courtyard,"

"Twins?" Aidan frowned, completely oblivious.

Seeing that Chris was about to say something, Pamela grabbed him from the elemental and quickly thought of something, "Yeah, these twins. Someone just abandoned them in the nursery and Paige is sorta helping out, it's the social worker in her,"

"Okay, I think I'll go talk to her," He ruffled Chris's hair before walking out of the room, leaving Piper and Pamela to exchange worried looks…

* * *

Emma snapped off another piece of chocolate and handed to Paige, who was stroking the side of Melinda's face while tickling baby Emma. The psionic smiled at her godchildren then began to talk, "They look so cute all wrapped up for the cold," She grinned at the babies wearing little hats and thick jackets.

"Yeah, I it all in a store window for sale and I couldn't resist," She took another piece of chocolate, "Thanks," She bit into it and turned to Emma, "Are you to convince me of something?"

Emma put her hands up, "Hey, I am here on a strictly friend basis, I'm not trying to persuade you of anything. But…"

"Here we go…"

"Don't you think he has a right to know? I mean, they are his kids too after all,"

"He lost that right when he abandoned us," Paige said, even though she was smiling at her children.

"Us?" Emma smirked.

"Yeah, me and the girls," She caught her friend smiling, "What is it?"

"Just you, all three of you. You're like a little family unit; can you believe that you're the same girl who wanted a termination all those months ago?"

Paige sighed, "I don't even want to think of those days. I just can't imagine killing my children; I think I was just reeling from…"

"Marine Boy?" Emma grinned.

Paige laughed and nodded, "Exactly,"

The empath smiled, but her grin faded when she saw Aidan standing behind them at the door, "Um… I'm going to go check with everyone, you know, see if they've came up a plan?"

"Okay," Paige nodded and went to her girls as Emma walked away.

"Good luck…" The psionic whispered to the elemental before going back inside. Aidan seemed to hesitate before walking along the flower lined gravel path towards Paige. She heard the crunch of the ground as he walked and turned around, immediately sighing and closing her eyes when she saw him.

"Hey…"

"Aidan, just… please, leave me alone," She lifted Emma out of the stroller as she began to stir, along with Melinda. Paige thought that it was just from the cold, but it was really because it was the first time they had sensed their father's presence. The witchlighter groaned when she realized she couldn't comfort both her children at the same time.

"Here, I'll get her," Aidan offered, reaching into the stroller and picking up Melinda, who calmed down immediately once he held her close to keep her from the cold. The little baby started to giggle as Aidan rocked her slightly.

"You're a little cutey, aren't you?" He smiled as he stroked her cheek, "Who would ever abandon you?"

"What?" Paige's face paled, did he know?

"Pamela told me that someone abandoned them in the nursery, you helping them out, aren't you?"

She couldn't help smiling at her niece's quick thinking as she held Emma close, "Yeah, 'abandon'… interesting choice of words for you, don't you think?"

He rolled his eyes, "Paige, I really don't think this is the time,"

She put Emma back into the stroller and stood up, "And when is the time? When you leave as soon as my sister is back to normal? Admit it; I'll never see you again after this!"

"Do you really think I left by choice? Paige, people were dying, the city was in ruins! You yourself said that I couldn't but you in front of all those people!" He put Melinda back into the stroller to face her properly.

"I loved you! I was a complete wreck when you left, you didn't even give me any choice in the matter! If you think that pulling me onto a neutral plane and saying 'gotta go' was closure for me, then you are more stupid than I thought!"

"I never wanted to leave you! Do you really think I wanted to be sitting in some castle when I could've been with you?"

"You know, I'm not even sure how long we would have lasted. Another one of your dirty little secrets just seemed to seep out every now and again,"

The two of them looked at each other through gritted teeth, little did Paige know that her cover was about to be blown. The twins, upset with their parents squabbling, decided to take matters into their own hands. Melinda disappeared in orbs and reappeared in Paige's arms while Emma burst into a puddle of water and came back in Aidan's arms. The Elemental's face went pale when he saw his daughter splash into his arms. Paige was convinced that he was going to drop her.

Aidan looked up with wide eyes, "Are they…?"

Paige rolled her eyes, "Took you long enough…"

* * *

"Oh my God…" Pamela had watched the scene unfold from the window and couldn't believe that it had been the children to blow Paige's cover of helping abandoned children. It had been such a good lie too. "I think I'm going to go see Zach," She told her family members, who were sitting at the library tables with their noses in books.

When she looked into the crowded dorms, she noticed her boyfriend standing in the doorway talking to another guy. Pamela smirked as he noticed her and walked towards her,

"Hey…" He whispered to her, planting a kiss on her lips.

"Hi," She replied quietly, taking his hand and returning the kiss with a little more passion.

"So I heard from Jenna," He said.

"Really? How is she?" Pamela asked, knowing that her best friend's grandmother had just died last week.

"She's coping. Apparently she can't come back until next week so that gives us a little time to decide what to tell her,"

"Hmmm… you're right," Pamela knew that Jenna might not be too keen on her and Zach being together, as the three of them were so close and it might ruin their friendship, "Maybe we should keep it a secret until she has someone of her own," She suggested, "Although we shouldn't force anything on her when she comes back, we'll give her time to mourn for her grandmother,"

Zach nodded in agreement, "So what do we do in the mean time?"

She smirked at him, "Enjoy the time we have!"

* * *

Paige came skidding into the Great Hall where she saw Leo talking Emma, both were donned in their black robes as it was almost morning and classes would start soon. Both teachers gave the witchlighter a shocked expression when they saw she was out of breath, "Leo, get the twins out of here and make sure Aidan doesn't see them!" She cried.

"What?"

"Just do it!" Leo knew better than to mess with her when she was in this state and grabbed the handle of the pushchair, orbing out instantly.

Aidan stormed into the room and glared at Paige, "What the hell are you doing? You can't stop me from seeing my own children!"

Emma leaned towards her friend, "I take it he knows?" The witchlighter nodded vigorously, "Okay, I'll leave you two to it," The empathy wisely left, her black cloak flowing behind her as she walked.

Aidan took a deep breath and put his hands on his hips, "How could you not tell me?"

She sighed and shrugged, "What would it have changed? You had already made your mind up and I wasn't going to drop a bombshell like that unless we were, I don't know, conscious?"

"You knew before I left?" His face grew pale again.

"Yes," He groaned in annoyance at her answer, "But I didn't even know if they were yours, so there was no point in worrying you about nothing!"

"You didn't know? How could you not know?"

"Because of Hades, remember him? The darklighter you vanquished before you left me abruptly?"

"Oh God… you thought you were carrying demon spawn?"

Paige cringed, "Don't say it like that. It sounds disgusting,"

He shook his head, "So, what? You only just realized they were mine when they did that little magic act outside? Why didn't you tell me?"

She rolled her eyes, "I won't even bother…"

"Tell me!"

"You want to know why?"

"Yes!"

"No you don't! You say that, but-,"

"Paige! Tell me!"

"YOU BROKE MY HEART!" She screamed, "There, I said it, are you happy now, Aidan? You broke my heart! You shattered me! I was broken!"

Both of them stood looking at their feet. Aidan just couldn't respond to her outburst. He knew it all had been true, but the truth was, she wasn't the only one hurting. He could have just splashed back to Atlantis when Pamela summoned him, but he had decided not to, he wanted to see her, but he had no idea about what she was hiding from him. Paige took a deep breath and walked over to the sofa, flopping down and putting her hand to her forehead, "What are we going to do?"

Aidan's mouth open and closed a few times, "I don't know…" He replied eventually, falling back into a chair.

"Hey guys! We just thought of a way to…" Pamela trailed off when she realized the tension in room.

"Go on, Pam…" Paige said weakly, standing to face her niece.

"I'm not really sure if you guys will go for it, as it involves you working together,"

"What's the plan?" Aidan urged, wanting Pam to move on from the awkwardness.

"Follow me…"

* * *

Aidan sat on the sofa the Manor living room. He leaned and let out a long sigh. It was not only the waiting that was killing him, it who he was waiting with. Paige had her hands in her back pockets as she paced back and forth in front of him; she too just wanted Phoebe to attack. The elemental couldn't believe it. He was a father! He had held his daughter, she was beautiful. Both of them were.

"Do you remember the time…?" He began, "You were meditating on the coffee table, I was playing with Chris, and he called me 'Uncle Aidan'?"

She rolled her eyes, "Yes…" Paige could tell where this was going.

"Do think that I would have ever become an uncle for real if I had stayed with you?"

"Well, I had your children and you weren't here, so yes, you probably would have," Paige responded coldly before going back to pacing.

"I want to the right thing… for the twins. What are their names?"

She couldn't help but smile a little. He was trying, "The orber is Melinda, the splasher is Emma," He grinned in response.

"Beautiful names for beautiful girls…" He said.

"Aww… isn't this touching?" Paige spun around to see Phoebe standing behind them; her side was still bleeding from three gashes that the Trident of Poseidon had given her. Aidan raised his hand and blue light began to glow from it warningly, the trident appeared in his other hand in a torrent of water.

"Leave. Now." He threatened, making the light in his hand grow bigger and stronger.

She scoffed, "You slash a girl and you look that you're almighty? Heh… Aidan, you really need to be taken down a peg or two,"

Paige decided to step in, "Did all that power go to your head? I think its time you end this now,"

Phoebe pouted, "But I'm having so much fun!" Electricity began to spark in her hands, but it was different than before, the voltage hummed around her entire body and stray bolts kept firing off and destroying things.

"Something's wrong. The power's starting to overload her body, it can't handle it," Paige backed away; Aidan put his arm in front.

"It's okay, I'll protect you," He blasted the light from his palm, but the voltage in the air destroyed it before the attack could get anywhere near Phoebe, "Okay, get out, get upstairs," He tried to push her away, but Paige refused to leave.

"No, I'm staying right here,"

"Do you want our children to become orphans? Get out of here!"

Phoebe raised both her arms and blasted what seemed like a storm from her fingertips. Paige cringed as she realized that the blast would kill both her and Aidan. But before the immense power could hit them, Aidan raised the trident in front of them and spun it around at an unimaginable speed. The lightning ricocheted off the weapon and blasted parts of the wall and ceiling into oblivion, "Okay, let's go!" He grabbed Paige's arm and they began to run towards the stairs.

"You can't run from me!" Phoebe screamed, a large amount of purple psychic energy flew from her fore head and just missed the duo. It blasted the wall at the stairs and made the entire stairwell crumble with loud cracks as wood flew everywhere. Aidan grabbed Paige by the shoulders and stopped her taking another step up as the stairs crumbled.

"What are we gonna do?" Paige yelled as she saw Phoebe's hands fill with electricity.

"I have an idea…" He looked at the trident, then at the gap in the stairs. The witchlighter's eyes widened as she caught on.

"No way! We are not vaulting over the hole!"

"It's our only chance! Paige, you have to trust me!" He looked up and saw Phoebe raised her arms, preparing to strike.

It was in that moment that Paige looked into his eyes with an intense stare, "Okay…" She whispered just loud enough for him to them.

Aidan nodded and grabbed her waist as he took a few steps back to the middle landing. He held the trident as if he just going to throw it. He tightened his grip on Paige's waist and ran up the small part of stairs, shoving the three prongs of the weapon into the stairs and jumping across the gap, wavering at the edge. They had just made it.

Aidan turned back to see his trident get fried by the extreme voltage of Phoebe attack, he sighed and shook his head before urging Paige to run up the rest of the stairs…

* * *

The two of them ran into the attic where everyone else was waiting. Paige skidded into the room after Aidan and slammed the door shut, "Okay, we've given you all the time we can get, if you're not ready, then we're screwed!" She yelled to her sister. Piper, Pamela, Emma and Brennan stood at the Book of Shadows, which was still only a book of blank pages.

"Yeah, we're ready! Okay Aidan, Leo, get into position!" The eldest Charmed One ordered. Her husband and the elemental did as they were told and walked to either side of room, facing other when they were in position.

"Have you got the jar?" Emma asked Brennan with a hint of urgency in her voice.

"Got it!" He said triumphantly, raising the glass jar he had used to take Phoebe's powers and opening it.

The entire room began to shake and the door rattled on its hinges, "Here comes Phoebe!" Paige yelled, taking hands with Brennan and Piper as all five witches linked hands. There was a short crackle of electricity and the door was blasted into a million pieces, not to mention the objects surrounding that area were thrown all over the place. Phoebe walked in with a scowl on her face; with her forehead glowing she raised her arms, ready to strike from both powers,

"Aidan, Leo! NOW!" Piper bellowed.

Both of the men raised their arms and blasted lightning and water from their hands, blasting Phoebe with both and causing the voltage from Leo's attack to increase thanks to Aidan, "Raise her!" Piper shouted another order. Both of them did as they were told and raised their arms, bringing Phoebe into the air as she screamed in pain, "Okay, everybody!"

"This witch's power cannot fight,

The lure of evil's magic might,

Before misuse lands her in Hell,

Remove the powers of Phoebe Halliwell!"

All those that had lost their powers chanted the spell. Millions of small lights burst from Phoebe's chest and dispersed into the air, some of the lights would go to each person who had had their abilities taken and some of them went out the window, presumably to Shalimar. The rest flew into the glass jar that sat on the alter, they flowed in and the lid snapped shut when they were all in.

Leo and Aidan quickly stopped their attacks when they realized that Phoebe was powerless. She dropped to the floor in a smoldering heap and looked on the verge of death, "Leo, heal her," Piper said calmly as Brennan rushed to his wife's side.

"Okay…" The elder said, jogging over to his sister in law and bending down heel her.

Aidan walked towards Paige and realized she had a gash on her head. He raised his hand to heal it, but she shoved his arm away.

"Don't touch me. If you do, then I'll just get even more confused," She was well aware of the how she felt when he heal her. Hell, it was how their relationship had started in the first place! He complied reluctantly.

Leo's golden glow disappeared and Phoebe came to, she blinked a few times and her eyes were completely clear. She squinted at her husband and suddenly realized she was the lying on the floor, "Brennan?"

"Yeah… it's me," He smiled and stroked her hair back, but she flinched at his touch.

"You… you…. Stripped me of my powers!" She exclaimed, "This is all your fault!" She had sat up and smacked him on the chest.

Paige and Piper smiled at one another, "She's back,"

"But not for long,"

Everyone turned their heads to see two men in white suits standing at the window; one was completely bald while the other had short brown hair. To Emma, Pamela and Brennan, these people were complete strangers, but Aidan knew who they were with his knowledge of magic, and the sisters and Leo knew from experience. They were the Cleaners.

"Who the hell are you?" Pamela clenched her fists.

"We'll explain later." Piper growled, stepping in front of her niece protectively.

"What do you stiffs want this time?" Paige rolled her eyes and folded her arms; Aidan laid a hand on her shoulder,

"Easy…" He whispered.

"We are here for your sister," The bald one replied. The other clicked his fingers and Phoebe disappeared in a sparkle of golden lights. Brennan immediately stood up and electricity began to crackle in his hands from the anger he felt,

"Who the hell do you think you are?" He growled menacingly.

"When magic is exposed, we clean it up, when there is a risk of exposure, we remove it."

"Entirely," The brown haired Cleaner added, clicking his fingers and making the jar of Phoebe's powers appear in his hands in a shower of lights.

"What exposure?" Piper challenged, stepping forward, along with Emma and Paige.

"You seem to be unaware of the damage your sister has wrought," The bald one replied, clicking his fingers and creating a hologram. People in hospital beds could be seen, all of them were on life support, "These are all witches that your sister took powers from, she has hospitalized every one of them. Not to mention the countless demons she has vanquished, she has almost destroyed magic completely. She cannot be allowed to remain," He waved a hand and all the hologram changed back to smiling people and smirking demons, "We have restored everything as it was before Mrs. Mulwray disrupted the balance,"

"Bring her back, NOW!" Brennan shouted, flinging his hands up and sending tesla coils at both of the beings. The bald one raised his hand and caught the blast; he seemed more bored than annoyed. Everyone else began to move to attack, but the brown haired being flicked his wrist and everyone flew back onto the floor. Piper and Brennan managed to get up just in time to see the Cleaners leave in a burst of light.

"PHOEBE!"

* * *

**NEXT TIME:** Paige, Piper and Brennan deliberately expose magic to get the Cleaners attention. For the second time in their years as witches, Phoebe's fate is decided by The Tribunal, but with the ever psychotically intelligent Gabriel Ashlocke as their opposing council, can a lawyer from Phoebe's past help the Charmed Ones win the case?

Chapter 21 **"Coling For Help" **should be up soon!


	21. Coling For Help Part 1

Phiona – Yeah, him being back has brought back a lot of old emotions. Thanks!

Unique deflection – I'm not saying anything about Aidan and Paige's relationship, but it's not over yet! ;)

Ravenix – I'm glad you liked it all! And I will be bringing the astral simulations back eventually. And I'm not saying anything that would give away Paige and Aidan's relationship.

Prince Halliwell – I'm going to be dragging out the Paige/Aidan thing as long as I can, regarding which way it will go, you'll have to read and find out! Its good to know you like the Phoebe/Brennan thing. And Gabriel won't be making a comeback, well; I don't plan on giving him one at least.

Pangea – Lol! I've been updating quickly these days! But that's all over since the trial's a little complicated to write.

Kendallpaigecharity – Lol, I'm glad you liked all of it!

Phoebe turner – Thanks!

Piperfairy – Oh, you'll have to wait and see!

Anianka – LMAO at the heart failure thing! I didn't think that Aidan dropping Emma would have made the scene more intense lol! I think Paige is got a bit of each of her big sisters in her. Lol, yes! Arc is in this chapter, he gives them some useful info!

Princess Pinky – I'm sorry to hear about your computer. Is there any way you could put your work onto a disk? That way you won't have to lose it. Yeah, Paige sorta lost it with him; it was a mixture of anger, pain and love. I tried to get her emotions just right. Cole isn't really in this chapter, but he's in the next one!

**Coling For Help**

Brennan woke up groggy eyed to the sound of Connor crying. He groaned and pulled back the covers, swinging his legs over the side of the bed and grabbing a t-shirt and jeans from the floor to put over his boxers. He walked calmly into Connor's room, rubbing his eyes. He smiled sympathetically at his crying son as he lifted him out of the crib and balanced him on his hip, jiggling him slightly. Brennan ruffled the child's messy black hair and sighed,

"I know buddy, I miss her too…"

* * *

Pamela stood in the foyer with the Book of Shadows in her arms. She laid it down on the table and stared at the stairwell. It had been completely destroyed during last night's fight and Piper had went to P3 early that morning so she decided it was up to her to fix it. She started flipping the pages, smiling at the fact that is all there now, and that it had been returned before the Cleaners had taken Phoebe. A pang of sadness washed over the teen, they hadn't found a way of getting her aunt back yet. A smile spread across her face when she found the spell she needed.

"Let the object of objection,

Become but a dream,

As I cause the scene,

To be unseen,"

The wood shafts that were lying around the floor began to float into the air; soon, every single piece of debris was levitating. Slowly, parts began to float back into their original places; they whizzed through the air and slowly began to reconstruct the steps. After the stairs were rebuilt, every singed fiber of carpet began to reform and cover the wooden steps in the red pattern that had covered them before the accident. Pamela sneered in confusion at what seemed to be a large stick of charcoal, until white lights spread over it and it became the Trident of Poseidon, "Cool…" She murmured as she went grab the weapon, but it shocked her on contact, only Aidan could touch it.

The front door creaked open and Emma walked, in carrying bags of groceries. She smiled when she saw what Pamela had did, "Yay! We actually have stairs!"

"Yeah, I thought a spell would a lot less risky than a repair guy. I'm trying to keep that chance of exposure down to a minimum right now,"

The psionic nodded in agreement, "Yeah, I know how you feel. I was afraid to use my powers this morning when some jackass cut in front of me in the queue at the store,"

"Didn't you get the groceries last week? I thought it was Piper's turn," Pamela inquired, knowing that her aunt had a strict schedule for chores.

"It is. But I don't really think she's up to it, with everything that happened last night…"

The teen shook her head in disgust, "I can't believe those bastards took her…"

"I know, but we'll find a way to get her back. I promise," Emma reassured her. Just as they finished their conversation, Leo appeared next to them in a shower of orbs, "Any joy?" Emma asked him.

"No… none of the other Elders know of any way to contact the Cleaners,"

"Ugh…" Pamela rolled her eyes, "I'm away to drown my drowsiness and sorrows in a cup of coffee," She began to walk towards the kitchen.

"Put one on for me! I'll be there in a sec!" Emma called out, the teen gave a wave in response, signaling that she would, "Okay, tell me everything you found out," The psionic asked her roommate; they had agreed to keep Pam out of this.

"There is only one set of Cleaners through time and space, so we don't even know if they are on this plane or time,"

"Well that just isn't good enough,"

"Emma…"

"What gives them the right to just yank someone away from their family? Their child?"

"It's their job, Emma! They don't give special treatment to anyone!"

Emma rolled her eyes and closed the Book of Shadows lying on the table and put it under her arm, "If you're not going to help, then I'll help myself!" She said defiantly as she began to climb the newly constructed stairs…

* * *

_Paige's eyes opened slowly to the sun pouring into the window of her room. She smiled at the familiar feeling of his strong arms wrapped around her as they slept. The witchlighter let out a moan of pleasure when he began to kiss the back of her neck. Paige turned around and smiled when she saw Aidan's face. He raised his hand and stroked the side of her face, kissing her passionately and moving closer to her._

"_Morning…" She said blissfully._

"_Hey…" He replied huskily, suddenly grabbing her by the waist and pulling Paige on top of him. She giggled with delight as he did, "Have a good sleep?"_

_She smirked at him, "Sleep? I don't seem to remember getting any sleep last night!"_

"_Mmm… well," He rolled them over so he was on top, "Maybe we should just let last night run into this morning," He leaned in and kissed her again…_

Paige squeezed her eyes shut as she woke up, groaning as the bright sunlight hit her eyes. The witchlighter cursed her alarm clock and threw it across the room with her powers; it let out one last defiant beep before it was silenced by flying into the wall. She ran a hand through her tousled hair and looked to the other side of the bed. It had all been a dream.

The crying of one of her children reached her through the walls, "Mommy's coming!" She yelled, jumping out of bed and rushing out of door. Before she could reach the twins room, the crying stopped; Paige immediately thought the worst and burst in, immediately sighing in relief and anger when she saw the sight.

Aidan stood, clad in his boxers, gently rocking Emma, who was now smiling in her father's arms. He beamed back at his daughter's face and looked up at Paige, his grin faded as soon as he saw Paige. She looked as if she was ready to murder. The witchlighter looked towards the couch and saw the covers on it were all moved about,

"What do you think you're doing?" She scowled at him as she picked up Melinda with a big smile before giving an angry look at Aidan.

"I'm comforting my daughter; do you have a problem with that?" His brow furrowed. He wasn't going to let Paige's anger keep him from his daughters.

"Yeah, I do. They're my responsibility, I look after them, I am their sole provider," She spat back.

The two of them shared a heated glance which was broken by a knock on the door. Paige set Melinda down and Aidan did the same with Emma, except he stayed in the room looking after his girls while their mother went to answer the door. When Paige opened the door, the beaming face of Mrs. Phelps, her landlady, was in front of her. Paige liked Mrs. Phelps, in the first month of Aidan's departure; she had offered to lower the rent so Paige could manage on one salary.

"Hey, Mrs. Phelps. You want the rent for this month?"

Mrs. Phelps smiled and waved a fistful of money and paper, "You're my last stop!"

"Okay, just hold on a sec and I'll write you a check," Paige smiled and walked into the kitchen where her purse was. Aidan, forgetting there was someone at the door, walked out into the living room in just his underwear to get his clothes. Mrs. Phelps' eyes widened at the sight of her former tenant scantily clad.

Aidan's face reddened when he noticed her and held his jeans and t-shirt in front of his middle section, "Uh… hi, Mrs. Phelps," He grinned nervously.

"Aidan…" She looked him up and down with a smirk, "I didn't know you were back in the building,"

Paige, who had watch the scene unfold from kitchen, stifled a laugh as she came back to the door, "Oh, he's not, he's just here to see the girls. Now, are you sure this is okay? Because I can give you cash if you want," She asked the woman sweetly. Paige wanted to prolong Aidan's suffering and she knew Mrs. Phelps wanted another look at the muscular man in just his boxers.

"Um… actually, could I have cash? I don't mean to a bother, but…" She looked over her tenants shoulder.

"No, no, no, it's okay, really!" Paige grinned; she moved back to purse and made sure she counted the money at least twice. When she came back to the door, she had to clear her throat to get her landlady's attention back, "There you go!"

"Um… thank you," She said, taking the money from Paige with a smile before walking down the hall. The witchlighter managed to hold in her laugh until she closed the door and she burst.

"That was not funny!" Aidan said bashfully with a red face.

"Aw… come on. It was hilarious!" She burst out laughing again as Aidan hurriedly put his clothes.

"Yeah, yeah, just wait until a pervy landlord catches you in your bra!" He retorted. Paige stopped laughing and smirked.

"That would never happen."

"Why's that?" He asked as he pulled his shirt over his head

"Because I'd kill him before he could see anything. Come on, get out of here, I want to take a shower before I go and talk to Piper and Brennan,"

Aidan rolled his eyes, "Paige, we were pretty serious for a year and a half, I've seen everything under those pajamas. Even the rose tattoo you have on the _very_ small of your back, besides, if you're helping to get Phoebe back, then I'll help,"

"Why? You've met her like, twice! One of those times she was psychotic and super powerful, not to mention trying to kill you,"

"Well, I'm going to be staying here a while, so I might as well make myself useful,"

Paige's heart stopped. He couldn't really be serious, he couldn't stay here as a constant reminder of what she really wanted. Unfortunately, she didn't have time to argue with him and decided to just accept it for now.

"Okay, I'll get clean and then we'll go,"

* * *

The bustling street of San Francisco was filled with people talking on cell phones and carrying suitcase while the odd car whizzed by now and again. The road was buzzing with talk and the sound of car engines, but it soon turned into screams and screeching of brakes when Paige orbed in with Brennan and Aidan splashed in with Piper, in the middle of the road,

"This is your plan? Paige, you've gone crazy!" Piper exclaimed when she saw where they had landed. The people who seen their magical were running in terror, while the others who hadn't seen it assumed the worst and joined everyone else.

"I haven't gone crazy! Now, hit all those windows…" She gestured to all the store windows along the street, "With a gravity blast!" Piper gave her a look, "Just do it!"

The eldest witch sighed and rolled her eyes before raising her hands and using her geokinetic abilities to send a ripple of distortion through gravity, smashing every single glass surface in the block. The thunderous sound of the glass smashing sent even more people into hysterics, "Okay Brennan, hit those parked cars with tesla coils!" She urged.

"What? I'll end up hurting someone!" He protested.

"Do you want your wife back?"

_Unfair_, Brennan thought as he swirled his hands around each other and ignited electricity in his hands. He threw them out towards the two cars on the edge of the sidewalk. The lightning hit the engines and both cars blew up with a loud bang and a fiery explosion. They listened to the crackle of flames for a while, still no Cleaners.

Three police cars came spiraling around the corner, their sirens screeching along with their tires as they prepared to slow down, "I'll handle this…" Aidan offered, waving his hand lazily and making all three police vehicles dissolve into water, leaving their owners to sit on air until they fell and rolled along the ground.

"Okay, missy," Piper said shortly to Paige, "What are you going to do?"

She smirked response and pointed to the large building in front of them, it stood at the junction at the end of the road and seemed to be a factory, "If this doesn't get their attention, then they are really bad are their job!"

"Double, double, toil and trouble,

Turn that building into rubble!"

A crashing boom went off, as if someone had just set off an explosive. Paige watched her makeshift spell take effect as the bottom of the building suddenly shattered. Bricks flew in every direction, as did dust as the colossal structure fell. But before it could crash and wipe out most of the block, the entire scene froze. The building stopped just before it hit the ground and people were frozen in their states of terror.

"Just what do you think you're doing?" A voice said.

Paige turned around and smiled at the Cleaners, "Hi, take us to your leader, or leaders,"

"How dare you demand an audience with The Tribunal!"

"Perhaps she didn't make our request clear enough." Piper began, "Take us there, or we'll get there ourselves,"

The two white suited being exchanged a hollow look before the bald one replied, "Very well," He said, with a wave of his hand and they disappeared in a shower of lights…

* * *

The four people appeared on the large white tile in the center of darkness. Paige knew this location all too well, as this had been the place where Darryl's fate had been decided, along with Phoebe losing her powers. She knew to be careful when dealing with the council of all magic. The Cleaners appeared in a flash of light and smirked as they waved their hands.

There was an ominous humming noise as the four transparent heads of the Tribunal appeared floating in the shadows. The two Elders, Aramis and Adair looked down at the group with a look of curiosity and somewhat compassion, while the two demon of the Tribunal, Crill and Thrask, looked at them with boredom and slight anger.

"What reason have you called the Tribunal?" Thrask boomed, his voice echoing through the void.

"To get our sister back!" Piper shouted up fearlessly, "It's not as if you can just confiscate her from our lives!" She continued until Paige put a hand on her arm and shook her head.

The Cleaner spoke, "The remaining Charmed Ones and their companions have requested your counsel in order to challenge our actions," He gestured to himself and to his partner.

"Are we to understand that they would like to plead their case?" Adair, the Elder asked with narrowed eyes.

"Yes," Paige answered loudly but respectively.

The four members of the council looked around at each other before nodding in unison, "It is done," As they spoke, two tables appeared on each side of the large glowing platform they stood on. One had just one chair while the other could seat five.

"Here we go again…" Paige mumbled.

"Why is there five seats at our table?" Piper asked with a frown.

"Three of them are for you and your sisters, one is for the young Halliwell, and the final seat is for your attorney," Crill explained.

"Attorney? You mean a lawyer?" Brennan asked the floated demon head.

He didn't answer, instead there was a low hum and Emma and Pamela appeared instantly. Emma looked as if she had been pulled from flipping through a book, while Pamela immediately fell, as she had been leaning down to sit on something before she had been transported.

Emma pulled her student to her feet, "Are you okay?"

Pamela winced and rubbed her behind, "I don't know, ask me when my ass wakes up!" She blinked a few times, "What the hell is going on?"

"The justice system…" Paige growled.

"You said attorney," Brennan repeated, "Why do we need an attorney? Can't we just fight for Phoebe by ourselves?"

"This is a very special case, Mr. Mulwray," Aramis began, "You will need someone who is well versed in your history, not to mention being a skillful doctor of the law,"

"Wait a minute…" Piper whispered.

"But where are we going to find someone like that?" Emma shouted up at the floating faces, Pamela was nodding in agreement at what she had just said. Aidan walked forward and faced the elders of the Tribunal.

"Our honours," He said confidently, "I ask that you be lenient with this strict rule, as you must understand that, to find someone you asking for, is impossible,"

"These are the rules!" Thrask bellowed, "If you cannot abide by them, you shall be ejected from our domain and you shall never see your sister again!"

"We can abide!" Piper shouted. Paige widened her eyes and smiled to the council before pulling her big sister to the side,

"Are you crazy? We don't know anyone like that, we don't even know a lawyer these days, let alone one who has knowledge of our extensive history!"

"Oh yes we do. They never said anything about him having to be alive though. C'mon, think about it! We know a lawyer that is sly, a good liar, and a kick ass attorney,"

Paige narrowed her eyes, "Fill in the blanks for me,"

She rolled her eyes, "He is a kick ass _demonic_ attorney,"

The witchligher pulled her back in surprise, "Oh no, you are _not_ suggesting who I think you're suggesting! We can't bring back Cole! We don't even know where the hell he went when he was vanquished,"

"I think you just answered your own question with that curse," Piper hissed back, before turning back to everyone, "We have someone,"

Adair nodded, "Very good. Your sister shall be temporarily returned for the purpose of this trial," The elder nodded and Phoebe appeared in a sparkle of lights. She noticed her family and immediately ran to her husband,

"Oh… thank God…" She whispered into Brennan's chest as she hugged him more tightly than ever before.

"It's okay, baby… we're not going to lose you…" He whispered back, having one arm around her while stroking her hair with the other and kissing the top of her head.

Piper and Paige were stroking her back and putting hands on her shoulders. She pulled away and faced the Tribunal proudly. She wasn't going to break down right now.

"Um… your honours," Piper cringed, forcing herself to say it, "Could you please summon Cole Turner?"

The middle Charmed One's eyes widened and she moved slightly away from Brennan, "Cole? He's the one who's defending us? You have got to be kidding me!"

A thin smile spread across Thrask's face, "It shall be done, but first, meet your opposing council,"

Everyone looked across the platform to see a figure fade into view. His back was turned and he stayed like that for a while, until he turned around with a smirk. Emma, Phoebe and Brennan immediately felt sick when they saw Gabriel Ashlocke leaning casually on the table.

"It's good to be back," He smirked, "Oh, tough crowd,"

Emma's eyes widened, "Is this a joke? Your honours…" Emma began, stepping into the middle of the platform, not aware of the small circle on the floor, "This… psycho, has tried to kill Mutant X, which Phoebe has been apart of, countless times in the past!" She shouted, stepping into the circle and quickly stepping out when a hologram shot from the centre. It was of Mutant X's first encounter with Gabriel, in a safe house for new mutants.

_The door was blasted off its hinges by an unknown force. Brennan and Shalimar whipped their heads around to see Gabriel Ashlocke and one of Strand members, Kelly, entered the safe house._

"_So this is where the Children of Genomex run and hide," He announced as he entered._

"_These two are members of Mutant X…" Kelly explained._

"_Something tells me you're Gabriel Ashlocke," Shalimar growled, her eyes never leaving her target._

"_Something tells me my reputation precedes me," He replied cockily as walked down the stairs._

_They had now reached the bottom of the stairs and stood in front of the two mutants, "I'm sorry to put you to so much trouble, but like I told Gabriel, if I had known we has really coming, I never would have tried to leave the Strand,"_

"_Yeah, well, I'm guessing that you two didn't come here to be slipped into the underground," Brennan snarled._

"_Oh… you got that right. The way I see it, the worse thing we can do is hide our gifts in the dark," Gabriel explained, trying to pull a godly pose._

"_Actually, we were hoping you'd join us," Kelly said warmly with an innocent smile._

_The two Mutant X members shared a chuckle at the idea, "I don't think so…" Shalimar said with a grin._

"_No? That's too bad, because that means we're going to have to take Adam's database, instead of you just bring it along with you,"_

_Shalimar and Brennan shared another look, before leaping at their attackers. Before they could hardly move a foot, Kelly spread out her arms swiftly and a wall of fire sprouted up, blocking them from her as she went to the computer on the far side of the room. The feral instantly recoiled from the fire, it being her biggest fear. Kelly began to download the mutant database into the drive she had inserted. Brennan swirled his arm around and threw out a tesla coil at the girl, but it was caught in a force field by Ashlocke. The two of them shared an intense stare before Gabriel released a high power energy blast, hitting Brennan in the chest and throwing him into the wall…_

The hologram ended and Emma scratched the back of her head in embarrassment from what she had activated. Aidan came up to her and took hold of her arm, pulling her away, "The Circle of Truth. It reads your mind and shows what needs to be seen, you should probably avoid walking around here,"

"Right…" Emma whispered back as she walked to the table. She stood next to it while the four Halliwells took their seats, "Actually, I'll take Brennan and Aidan and see what I can find out about him being opposing council. Something doesn't feel right,"

"Okay, tell Leo where we are, maybe he can help," Piper suggested.

Emma nodded to her friend and orbed out, while Aidan took Brennan by the shoulder and splashed out, hopefully to find some answers. Everyone stared at the final empty chair and took a deep breath as Cole Turner faded into view; he was wearing the clothes that he had been vanquished in, in the alternate reality.

"Ladies…" He smiled and nodded while the Charmed Ones sat aghast.

"Don't act all coy!" Phoebe scoffed, "Don't think winning this case is going to get you back into our lives again!" She warned, even her sisters thought she was being slightly paranoid.

"I assure you…" He smiled again, "I don't have any ulterior motive, although…"

"Aha! Although what? Huh? What's your plan this time?"

"Phoebe… this is the man basically in charge of your fate, keep your mouth shut," Piper warned with a roll of her eyes.

"Look, whether you want to believe me is up to you, but I am here to help. I mean, why else would you guys have summoned me, right?"

"You don't seem very surprised to be here," Paige pointed out.

"Aw… c'mon Paige, you know that anyone with a strong enough will can stop themselves from moving on,"

"You've been holding on for four, almost five years. That's not having a strong will, Cole, that's just plain sad!" Phoebe snapped at her ex-husband.

The ex-demon sighed and shook his head. He knew that this trial wasn't going to pass quickly…

* * *

"Here are the books you requested, miss," Arc bowed respectively and put the pile of books on the table before flying off back to the library, his mismatched wings beating silently as he flew.

"That little gargoyle is certainly something," Emma marveled as she picked up one of the books that the stone creature had brought her. She made a face at one of the books, "Wow, did you guys know that we had a book that documents every case that's come before the Tribunal? This might prove useful…"

Leo looked up from the book he was reading, "I think Phoebe's case a little too recent,"

"Oh, I wouldn't be too sure about that," Emma said as she looked along the back page of the book, "It seems to be writing itself. That Cole guy's doing pretty well," She mused.

"What?" Leo frowned and moved over to her, seeing the words on the page appear in golden sparkles.

Water began to rise from the floor and the psionic smiled, it had been a while since she had seen this sight. The liquid burst and it formed Brennan and Aidan, who were carrying a ton of books, "Wow… where did you get all that?" Leo asked

"Atantian archives. You'd be amazed how much crap they keep," Aidan dropped it all on the table and looked triumphant while Emma cringed slightly.

"Um… yeah, if you want to keep Paige's anger down to a minimum, then I suggest you don't refresh her memory about you being royalty. Splash them into my classroom, no one can get in without my approval,"

Aidan looked down at his feet. He and Paige had been getting on pretty well before the trial, if you didn't count her attacking him for looking after his daughters. Emma was right though, he was better to try and keep on Paige's good side.

"Okay…" He said halfheartedly, putting his hand on the pile of books and disappearing in a surge of water.

"Found anything?" Brennan asked as he put the books down.

Emma shook her head, "Nothing, I think we're breaking a record for how many times we're pioneers in these situations," The psionic grumbled as she picked up another book.

"Okay, well we need to find something fast. This Cole guy may be good at what he does…" Brennan snarled, he didn't really like the thought of his wife being with something else so deeply, "But I don't think even he can beat Gabriel Ashlocke unless we think of something…"

"Pardon me sir, but did you say Gabriel Ashlocke?" Arc asked as he flew in carrying more books. He landed on the table and his angel wing shivered while his devil wing seemed to span proudly at the mention of such an evil being.

"Yeah, what do you know?" Leo sat down.

The gargoyle shook his head, "Not much I'm afraid, sir. Only that some of my comrades went to ward off a powerful evil which was crossing into this world from the realm of the dead. They were ordered to stop immediately, however,"

"What? Who would have enough power to tell gargoyles not to fend off evil? It's the very reason of their existence. No offence," Brennan said kindly to the stone creature on the table.

"Not at all sir. I'm just honoured to have been summoned by Miss Walker to serve you all. Anyway, word is that it was the demonic members of the Tribunal who ordered them to stop; they said that there would be serious retributions for both sides if my friends were to stop this evil. They naturally retreated, of course,"

Brennan clenched his fists, "Those bias bastards…" he growled, "They've rigged the damn thing!"

Emma stood up quickly, "We have to get back there. Aidan!"

The elemental immediately appeared in a torrent of water, "Yeah, what do you need?"

"We're going back to the trial. Now." She stated firmly.

"Why? Did you find something?"

"Yeah," Leo began, "A conspiracy,"

* * *

"Your honours!" Cole shouted upwards as he paced the scene, "I would like to remind the court that this is not the first time one of these three witches have came close to exposing magic, each time the Tribunal was non existent. Observe," He waved his hand over the Circle of Truth and a hologram floated out.

_Piper stood on the hill just before the Golden Gate Bridge, she was soaked from the rain and her face was streaming with tears. She was wearing a white toga that was now sticking to her shaking form from the wet. The witch took a deep breath and raised her hand towards the city, bright flashes of lightning erupted from the sky, blasting San Francisco with all the energy she had. She tightened her hand into a fist and the lightning became even more intense._

_Orbs began to form on the hillside and Phoebe Paige appeared holding an umbrella, they were obviously dressed better for the storm than their sister was._

"_Piper!" Paige shouted over the crashing thunder._

"_Stay away from me!" The grieving witch shouted back._

"_We're here to take you home!"_

"_Back to your family!" Phoebe yelled to her sister._

_Piper turned her head slowly, a look of pure rage on her face, "What… family?"_

"_To your son. Wyatt. Remember him?" Phoebe shot back cheekily._

"_He's needs his mother!" Paige added._

"_He's already lost his father; don't take his mother away from him too!" The middle sister shouted as her final attempt to sway the eldest witch's decision._

_Piper sighed and turned her head away. She began to glow and a tornado of spiritual leaves swarmed around her, consuming her and transporting her to the heavens…_

The hologram disappeared and Cole sat down, looking quite triumphant with himself. Phoebe rolled her eyes and whipped her head around, "Is that the best you've got for us? And how do you about that anyway? You were dead!"

"I have my ways…" Cole winked and smirked at her.

Before Gabriel could rise with a comeback for Cole's argument, pink and blue orbs, along with water, began to form and became Emma, Leo, Aidan and Brennan.

"Stop the proceedings!"

* * *

**NEXT TIME:** Emma manages to sever the link between the Ashlocke and the demonic members of the Tribunal, not allowing them to feed him anymore information. The true trial begins and Phoebe's fate is determined, but it proves to be a double edged sword…

Chapter 22 **"Coling For Help Part 2**" should be up soon!

PS: I'm working on the preview for the sequel to this fic; I'm also working on the 2nd chapter of "Starting Over"


	22. Coling For Help Part 2

Prince Halliwell – She'll have a little bit more gratitude in this chapter! And I'm going to be dragging the Paige/Aidan thing out for a while!

Phoebe turner – Thanks!

Piperfairy – Lol, didn't Carrie win or something? Thanks!

Kendallapigecharity – Lol, thanks!

Charmed greek – Thanks!

**Coling For Help Part 2**

"How dare you-," Thrask began.

"Aw… shove it," Emma rolled her eyes and pulled out a piece of paper, beginning to chant the spell written there, "Through minds that link, I shall now sever, To aid us now in our endeavor,"

Everyone who hadn't just appeared looked around, confused by the sudden rhyme. The demonic members of the Tribunal and Gabriel Ashlocke however, did not look so surprised. The super mutant stood up from the table almost running towards Emma in rage and creating an energy blast in his hand.

"CEASE!" Adair bellowed. The energy blast fizzled out immediately and Gabriel looked at his empty hand in horror, "Need I remind you, Mr. Ashlocke, that you are _not_ all powerful in our court!"

"Damn…" He muttered under his breath before stomping back to his table and sitting down.

Leo turned around to the elders of the Tribunal, "Your honours, we have reason to believe that your evil counterparts have been conspiring with the opposing council to make sure that Phoebe is not returned to the world,"

"What?" Phoebe got up from her slightly slouched position and listened.

Brennan answered, "Those guys…" He shot a look at Thrask and Crill, "Ordered gargoyles to let Gabriel pass through the barrier between life and death. They're the reason he's here and why he knows so much about your history,"

"Is this true?" Aramis stared at his demonic counterpart.

"We have the right to choose whom ever we want, Gabriel needed the information of the history of the Charmed Ones and we gave it to him." Thrask shot back with a sneer, the four members really didn't get along with each other.

"I ask a punishment of some sort is given for this forbidden mind link," Leo faced towards the two elders. Adair and Aramis looked to each and nodded,

"The trial shall continue,"

"What?" Piper stood up along with Paige, "How can let this go on when it's been proved that they were cheating?"

Paige folded her arms, "So much for a fair trial…"

"Despite their means, what Thrask says is true and we have no way to prove that Gabriel was given extra information on top of your history. The connection has been severed, the trial shall continue,"

The youngest and oldest Charmed Ones opened their mouths to speak again, but Phoebe took their hands and pulled them to their chairs, she faced the floor as she did so, "No, it's alright. I guess I'll have to put all my faith in our lawyer," She looked at Cole with a trusting look and nodded, he nodded back and stood up.

"If this trial is indeed to go on, let me begin a new leaf. I would like to remind the courts of the Charmed One's impeccable caution when it comes to using their powers in public situations," He waved his hand and a hologram appeared.

_The security of San Francisco Museum suddenly froze at his desk as Piper and Phoebe walked in, the eldest sister had her hand up towards the man, indicating she had been responsible for his lack of movement to the intruders dressed in black._

"_So far so good," Phoebe whispered._

"_Oh yeah?" Piper responded as they continued to walk down the runway. They reached the balcony and took in a breath when they saw lasers weaving along the floor, protecting the chalice that was encased in a glass box._

"_Wow… If we pull this off, Paige owes me Prada," Phoebe looked at the scene wide eyed._

"_And babysitting, for a year," Piper added. She cringed and raised her hand again, freezing the security precaution and walking down the stairs._

_There was a time lapse. Phoebe stood with her arms in a meditating position and Piper seemed to be willing her to do something, "Okay, deep breath. Clear your mind. Think positive, think positive. Ready, ready, ready? Okay, after you," She offered. Her sister rolled her eyes before suddenly diving into the web of lasers; she vaulted over the first one and rolled along the ground, standing up just inches away from one in front of her face. She crouched down and slithered under it, "Easy…" Piper warned. Phoebe wavered for a second before bringing her leg up and stepping over the next one, "Careful!" Her sister hissed. The next set proved to be trickier, forcing Phoebe to get down onto her back and slide along the floor. She reached the final one, decided to lift her legs up and do a backward roll over it from her lying down position. She steadied herself with her hands and stood up, turning around cautiously,_

"_Okay…" She said, out of breath and moving her fringe from her face, "Now what?"_

_Piper opened her mouth to stay something, but instead she gestured at the glass box, shattering it to pieces and then gesturing again quickly, freezing the pieces in mid air,_

"_Nicely done," Phoebe commented._

The hologram ended and Cole began to talk again, "So as you can see, everything that could've gone wrong, didn't go wrong," He said before sitting back down.

Gabriel clapped slowly from his table, "First of all…" He began as he rose, "I would like to thank the opposing council for bringing that particular event. Let's see what happens if I let that hologram play for a little longer, shall we?" He waved his hand and the previous hologram started from where it left off.

_Phoebe cautiously tread towards the chalice, making sure she didn't disturb any of the frozen glass shards. She placed her hands around the goblet firmly before lifting it from the pedestal, unfortunately, there had been an alarm placed under the artifact and a siren began to go off, along with the lasers which disappeared. The glass unfroze and fell to the ground, Piper gestured to her sister and they began to run out of the building._

"_This is bad! This is bad!" Piper said in a high voice as they ran, not noticing Darryl, Inspector Sheridan and Agent Kyle Brody ran out from the shadows in their pursuit._

"So you see, the so called caution that Mr. Turner has been praising the Charmed Ones for, seems to be non-existent in this case," He continued to walk around, "And in this one," He waved his hand again.

"_Dr. Williamson, we can help you but you have to stop hurting people," Piper warned the white coated man as they stood in the abandoned building with Prue and Phoebe standing next to her. The man smirked and raised his hand, revealing a scalpel in his palm,_

"_If you say so…" He smirked and went to throw it, but Prue raised her hand and used her power, sending the scalpel flying into the wall behind the doctor, "You should have stayed away," He said, throwing out his arm and making a circular saw blade fly towards the three witches. Piper yet out a yelp and jutted out her hands, freezing the metal disc before it could reach them._

_Phoebe began to panic, "Okay, Piper, freeze, him, him, him,"_

_She hesitated before gesturing towards him and freezing him, but he slowly began to move again and fought through her power, returning back his normal speed._

"_It's not working,"_

"_What ever you do, do not unfreeze that thing," Prue cautioned, but she had to quickly raise her hand when Dr. Williamson sent another blade flying at them, the two were locked in a telekinetic fight, "Okay, he's really, really strong,"_

"_I don't know how much longer I can hold this," Piper said, her hands still raised in the direction of the saw blade._

_Her younger sister's voice went high, "Piper, you do not let that go, okay, you do not let that go!"_

"_Okay, yelling does not help," _

"_Piper, when I tell you to, just let go," Her big sister advised._

"_What?" Phoebe questioned._

"_But…"_

"_We're done playing around, hit the deck now," Prue said strongly before throwing out her arm, making the blade she had been holding back fly into the wall. She pulled her sisters to the ground and the frozen blade regained movement and ricocheted off the wall behind then, whirring straight into Dr. Williamson and striking him the chest. He pulled it out with the last of his strength and fell to the ground, dead. _

Piper and Phoebe stood up after the hologram was finished, "That isn't fair! We didn't have a choice! He was killing innocent people!" The middle sister protested.

"Ah…. Yes. But if Piper had just went down the hospital for a check up, the good doctor never would have been injected with your blood and been driven mad by your powers,"

"You're the last person who should be talking about people gone mad…" Emma spat.

Piper looked defeated at this. Dr. Williamson had always been a burden on her conscience, as she felt responsible for his death, and now that she knew she was, she felt even worse, "We tried to save him…" She choked out.

"But it wasn't enough." Gabriel replied sternly before sitting back down.

"The court shall rest to review the current evidence. There shall be a brief interval," Thrask boomed before a chilling hum broke through the silence and the Tribunal disappeared…

* * *

"Cole, what is going on? I know you're a better lawyer than this," Phoebe asked her ex-husband.

"I am. Why do you think I'm letting him get all these arguments out? He'll eventually run out of ammo and that's when we strike, he won't be able to contradict our arguments and we'll be able to win, it's quite simple," He replied with a smile.

"I just hope you know what you're doing," She said warily.

"Have I ever let you down?" She gave him a look, "It's probably better you don't answer that question,"

"I hate the way he's looking so smug…" Brennan growled at the super mutant who was sitting at the opposite table, smirking and waving at the group.

"Well, Leo went to go get anymore information from the elders, so hopefully he can come up with something," Piper stated.

"You shouldn't rely on just that," Aidan advised, "We should start coming up with some ideas in case Leo doesn't find anything," The elemental had a lot of faith in his old friend, but they would have to have a back up.

"What are you doing?" Pamela snorted at her youngest aunt, who was staring at Gabriel with an intense look, "I didn't think dead psychotic super mutants were your type," She smirked.

Paige broke the stare and glared at her niece, "For your information, I was checking him out with my power, making sire he wasn't hiding a dirt little secret on the astral plane,"

"Did you get anything?" Pamela and Emma said in unison.

The witchlighter gave them a strange look, "What's with the duet? Should I have seen something?"

"I don't know…" The psionic began with a worried look, "I've just been getting this really creepy feeling from him. Like, whatever happens, he'll win,"

The Halliwell teen nodded at this, "Yeah, I don't whether it's because your premonition power is gone…" She said to Phoebe, "But I think mine is becoming more active or something, because I've been getting that same vibe,"

"Do you think you could get close enough to get one? A premonition, I mean," Brennan asked his niece.

She raised an eyebrow, "Are you kidding? If I step out this chair, the Tribunal will incinerate me!"

"Well, the Tribunal isn't here right now, are they?" Brennan glanced at Gabriel, "What's the worse that can happen? If he attacks you, Paige can heal and he will be sent back to wherever the hell he came from. All you need to do is touch him,"

"I'll go with you," Emma offered, "Maybe my premonition power can strengthen yours and it won't hurt to have a little back up,"

"Okay, but how do we know that he hasn't used one of his powers to find out our plan? He could already be prepared for us," Paige interjected.

"Because you lose your powers when you're vanquished." Cole began, "Right now, it's only his soul that's here. It's the same for me; it's a bit like an astral projection,"

Pamela looked at everyone before sighing and standing up, "Okay, I'm going in," She straightened out her top before walked towards their enemy with Emma following close behind. She walked to the table confidently and placed both hands down on the glass surface and bent down to face him, "You're not going to win,"

He leaned back, "Well, not with you shoving your cleavage in my face," The super mutant smirked and moved closer, "You certainly are well developed for a seventeen year old. You must get it from your mother, what ever happened to her, I wonder? Getting banged up then dying? That must suck,"

Pamela gave him a disgusted look brought her fist across his fist, punching him hard in the jaw. But the contact pulled her into a powerful premonition.

_Lots people were crowded in the basement of the Manor, Gabriel stood in front of them all and was looking down into a hole in the floor. He seemed to chanting something. There was a bright flash and dark gaseous creature flew out of the hole, it floated in front of Gabriel's face before entering him through his eyes. The mutant was shocked and stumbled back, and when he had opened his eyes, he was completely black. _

She came out of the premonition as her fist left his cheek; it seemed that he hadn't even noticed the sharp intake of breath. Pamela blinked a few times before regaining her composure, "If you ever say anything like that about my mother again, a pair of hedge trimmers and your non-existent balls will be getting a little closer, you understand me?"

She spun around, her brown-blonde hair swishing behind her as she stormed back to the table. Emma came up beside her,

"Did you get anything?" She whispered.

"Yeah, he's after the Nexus,"

* * *

The dark attic was inhabited by three Strand members, who had been ordered by their leader to keep an eye on the Book of Shadows, as none of them had been able to touch it since they stormed the Manor. Light suddenly flooded the room and Emma, Leo, Brennan and Aidan appeared in orbs and water. The three mutant witches began to advance on the intruders, but Emma released a psionic blast at one whole Brennan and Leo blasted another with lightning. One released an energy ball towards Aidan and he lazily waved his hand, sending a wave of numerous icicles towards his attacker. They destroyed the energy ball and pinned the Link to the wall by sailing through his clothes and impaling themselves into the wooden surface.

"Damn trespassers…" Emma rolled her eyes and went to grab the book, but it glowed as she went for it and blasted her back onto the floor, "What the hell?"

"It must sense your desire to get it out of the house, only a Halliwell can do that," Aidan informed her.

"I told you it wouldn't work," Leo said quietly.

"Looks like it's time for Plan B!" Brennan announced, outstretching his hands and making electricity spark in his hands. Emma caught onto his plan and a pionic blast shone above her head.

"Looks like violence is the answer," Aidan stated. The Trident of Poseidon came whizzing though the door, it had obviously sensed its master and had came back to him, it has been followed by two Links, who were then hit by Emma and Brennan's powers.

The foursome walked out of the attic. Leo quickly made gestures at the fallen members and they disappeared in a swathe of orbs…

* * *

"Where the hell are they?" Phoebe hissed to Piper.

"How should I know? Look, we're better just to keep going with the case and not relying on the others finding something," Piper returned.

Paige nodded in agreement, "Yeah, let's just continue. I think we can win this one,"

Her older sister snorted, "Paige, my future is at stake here, we will need one pretty impressive hologram to win this thing,"

Cole suddenly clicked his fingers and laughed, "Of course! Why didn't I think of it before?"

"What has he been smoking?" Pamela gave him a strange look, "I want some,"

"No, I just thought of something that can win this thing!"

There was a chilling hum and four faces of the Tribunal came back into view. They looked down on the people sitting at the two tables and nodded their heads, "The trial may resume,"

Gabriel waved his hand, "I rest my case, I think I've shown that Phoebe shouldn't be allowed to remain in this world," She shot him a glare.

"I have one more hologram to show, your honours," Cole stood up, but Phoebe pulled him back down.

"I'm trusting you here," She warned. He nodded and stood up again.

"I think that I can sum up the skill and caution of Charmed Ones when it comes to exposure in just one hologram. One that proves they have the intelligence, ingenuity, and skill to clean up their own magical messes. The reason this hologram is so important, is because it begs the question 'Where were the Cleaners when this happened?'" He waved his hand and the final hologram of the trial began to play.

_Prue and Piper were running down the street. Their eyes were scanning every crevice, opening and wide open area that was there. Piper looked around and sighed, "Maybe Phoebe hurt him worse than she thought," They continued to run._

"_No, he gotta be around somewhere, he wouldn't leave without getting what he came for," Prue replied._

"_You really think he would attack us in broad daylight? Evil is usually more incideous than that," The two witches stopped running and stood on the spot. Prue became like a statue and began to listen for something._

"_Ah, okay, shh…" She hissed._

"_What?" _

_A tornado began to come up behind them. The two of them heard the wind and gasped, turning around to face the tornado. The wind died down and Shax appeared, he threw out a wind ball from his palm, but Prue deflected it with her power. The attack hit him in the chest but he was unfazed from being hit by his own element,_

"_Blow this!" Piper yelled. She gestured towards the demon he blew up with a scream and in a plume of blue fire. The leaves that had been flying around fell to the ground, "Okay, is he dead?"_

"_Well, we didn't really say the spell," Prue replied, looking around for any evidence._

"_Well, maybe we don't have to, we don't always. We're lucky nobody saw us,"_

"_Alright, let's just get back to Phoebe. Come on," She took Piper's hand and led her back down the road._

_The view changed to the view of someone looked through a camera. It was watching Prue and Piper run off in a different direction, "Back to me, back to me, back to me!" A woman's voice urged. The camera turned and a woman wearing a red suit was standing there with a microphone, "Okay, I'm not sure what just happened, but whatever it was, you saw it here. Live!"_

"So as you can see…" Cole began, "This was probably one of the biggest exposures in the history of magic, yet the Charmed Ones were able to clean it up with their own skills, even at the cost of their sister…" He added solemnly. Gabriel looked stunned and as if he was about to kill himself for not using that exposure against them.

"We shall return with the verdict," Thrask announced, before the Tribunal disappeared…

* * *

"I can tell you, that was the most anti-climactic victory ever," Emma told the Halliwells, "I used a spell to expel intruders and the Links are now scattered across the globe," She smirked.

"Thanks, Emma." Piper smiled at her friend.

"Okay, just in case they vote against me…" Phoebe began, "I want you guys to know that all of you are my family and that I love you all dearly,"

"Do you want me to go and get Connor for you?" Leo offered.

"No… I don't want him to have to say goodbye to me." She shook her head before turning to Cole, "Thanks for your help. Is there anything I can do?"

"Well… now that you mention it…"

"I'm not going to resurrect you in any way at all," She warned with a smirk.

He smiled, "All I want is to move on."

"What?"

"I've been trapped in a limbo for four years! I just want it to end, whatever side I go to," He explained.

Phoebe smiled, "Done." She took her sisters hands and chanted, "I call upon the Power of Three, release this spirit and set him free,"

He smiled in response before a white light enshrouded him. There was a bright flash and Cole was gone, "I hope he finds peace…" Phoebe said. She got up and took Brennan's hand; they walked away from the group so that they could talk alone.

"You take of our boy, okay? I'll be watching," She winked with a tear in her eye.

Brennan smiled, "You're not going to get taken. But I'll take care of Connor anyway," He chuckled. Phoebe suddenly jumped up and wrapped her arms around his neck, kissing him passionately and running her hands through his hair while Brennan kept his hands on her hips. She pulled back and smiled weakly.

"I love you," She whispered.

Brennan pulled his wife into a tight hug. He kissed the top of her head, "I love you too…" He whispered back with a choked voice.

The humming sound indicated that the Tribunal had returned. Phoebe composed herself and went to sit down. Brennan stood in between Leo and Aidan, who patted his shoulder sympathetically, "We have reached a verdict," Adair announced.

"As to whether or not Phoebe shall be allowed to return to the world, the judgment is in favour of Phoebe," Every let out a sigh of relief and happy squealing broke out, "However…" The happiness was destroyed by that one word, "There shall be consequences,"

"Phoebe shall be stripped of her memory and all of her powers," Crill said.

"What? My memory?" The middle sister gaped at the demon head.

"And Piper and Paige shall be stripped of half of their powers," Aramis continued.

"What purpose does that serve? I can understand stripping Phoebe's powers but her memory and half of her sister's powers?" Leo raged.

"It shall be up to you to restore her memory, and she will be mortal until we decide whether or not to restore her powers," Thrask explained.

"Piper shall be stripped of her temporal stasis, intangibility and geokinesis abilities," Aramis told them. Piper bowed her head in defeat.

"And Paige shall lose her orbing, healing, and telekinesis abilities," Crill told her. Paige also bowed her head, knowing they couldn't do anything about it.

"Let this be a lesson to you," Adair warned before him and his comrades disappeared…

* * *

**NEXT TIME:** After seeing what they to Phoebe, Emma decides to strip herself of her hidden powers, just in time for a new ability to reveal itself. Piper and Paige are disheartened by losing half of their powers. Brennan tries to restore Phoebe's memory the mortal way, and when a princess from a magical kingdom attempts to steal Melinda and Emma, Aidan's arranged marriage rears its ugly head.

Chapter 23 **"For Whom The Wedding Bell Tolls" **will be up soon!


	23. For Whom The Wedding Bell Tolls

**Prince Halliwell** – Yeah, it's just a figure of speech. She's got to come back, yet she can't remember what she's coming back to. Yeah, Emma's new power will be revealed. There's not a lot of fighting in this chapter, so not much power usage. Uh huh, Aidan's got even more explaining to do! And thanks, I'm finding a balance between that fic and this one!

**Kendallpaigecharity** – That's the Tribunal for you! Glad you liked it!

**Oracle85** – Well, Phoebe will get her memory back soon; it's great you enjoyed it!

**Charmed greek** – Thanks!

**Princess Pinky** – Piper and Paige were punished to make sure they understood the harshness of the situation. Yeah, I really think that Cole was a good guy; it was his powers that made him do the things he did.

**Phoebe turner** – Well, they won't stay like that for long!

**Piperfairy** – Well, Phoebe almost brought down all magic. Yeah, the Paige/Aidan thing is going to last a while!

**For Whom The Wedding Bell Tolls**

Emma sat on a stool in front of the Book of Shadows. Crumbled up pieces of paper were lying all around her and the tired psionic was leaning her elbow on the book while propping her head with her hand. She had resorted to doodling on the pad that was lying on the book, now completely out of ideas.

"Emma? What are you doing?" Her weary eyes widened and she looked to the doorway to see Piper standing there in a dressing down and pink fluffy slippers.

"Oh, just… studying. You know, trying to find some challenging potions to put in senior higher class next year,"

"Won't that be Pam's class?"

"Exactly. That little witch is racing through the course so I need to think of a way to slow her down next year. She's going to pass her end of year tests with flying colours." She subtly covered the pad with her arm.

"Well, I think you should probably go to bed since you do have classes tomorrow," Piper argued as she sat down on the sofa, the darkness of night making her almost invisible.

Emma turned the knob on the tall lamp that she had moved next to her, making the light dim so it was easier in her eyes, "No, Leo cut my classes down a little so I could cope with my emapth charges. I've only got two tomorrow, in the afternoon,"

"Ugh… I would give anything to sleep in on mornings,"

"Well, maybe if you and your husband gave up your… nocturnal activities, you wouldn't be so tired," Piper's face went completely red, "Yeah, the walls aren't as thick as you think," She faked a serious face, "I hope you're using protection,"

"Oh… You're so funny Miss DeLauro, don't get me started. You and Mr. "Down To Earth" Seem to be gettin' it on as of late!"

"Ugh… I think it's time to face the fact that we're just two horny women,"

"Piper…" They looked up to see Leo leaning in the doorway, wearing a t-shirt and boxers "You coming to bed?"

The two witches smirked at other, "Yeah honey, be there in a minute," Piper responded as she stood up. Emma turned the intensity of the light up again to look at the book, "I'll see you in the morning," She winked to the redhead before following her husband down the stairs. Piper discarded her robe and slippers on the way out and walked out in her pajamas.

Emma chuckled to herself and flipped another page, smiling when she saw something that would work. She began to write her alterations down on the pad in front of her before she leaned back and smiled in triumph.

"Powers of the witches rise,

Course unseen across the skies,

Take away my secrets now,

To my powers no more, I shall bow,"

Her body glowed and hundreds of tiny bright lights flew from Emma's chest. She watched them hover in the air for while until most of the lights flew away out of the window. A small group of them continued to hover until zooming towards Emma's chest and knocking the psionic off the stool and onto the floor from the force.

Emma picked herself up from the floor and began to laugh, "I did it!" She said triumphantly, moving her hair out of her face and closing the book, along with turning off the light before walking out of the room…

* * *

Pamela awoke with a start, hearing a piercing crash coming from the hall, "What the hell…?" She said to herself as she pushed off the covers and got onto the floor. The sound of glass smashing when echoed through the house. The creaks of doors opening made Pamela turn to see Piper and Leo coming out their bedroom, while Wyatt and Chris stood timidly, looking out a crack in their bedroom door.

"Hey, why don't you boys go back to bed? Me and your parents while take care of it," Pamela bent down slightly to address her cousins, but they stayed where they were.

"I'll get them," Leo offered, moving past his wife and going into his children's room.

"What the hell is Emma doing in there?" Piper cringed at Emma's bedroom door, another bang sounded, the door shaking from the force.

"Whatever it is, I hope it's not R rated," Pamela made a face at the door, her aunt smacked her on the arm.

"Don't be so vulgar!" She paused, "And Grant's out of town so it can't be… You know,"

"Se-,"

"Yes!"

The two of them walked towards the door and stood cautiously at the threshold. Another crashing noise could be heard in the room; Pamela put her hand on the doorknob, and then pulled it away, "What should I do? Open it gently, or throw it open with my powers?"

Piper rolled her eyes, "You just couldn't resist throwing in a little power jibe, could you? Just throw it open, if its demon, it'll surprised that way,"

"If it's a demon, it's probably killed her in the time we've taken to debate this…"

"Just do it!"

"Alright, alright!" She hushed her aunt and raised her arm forcefully. The doorknob flew off the door as it flew open, but the two witches immediately had to duck as Emma's TV came flying out the room and crashed on the hall floor.

"Oh my God…" Piper breathed as they looked in.

Every piece of furniture in Emma's room was flying around! Her chest of drawers was circling the currently levitating bed, while everything else whirred around in a circular motion. The two of them had to duck again as a nail file flew out the door and impaled itself in the wall.

"How is she sleeping through this?" Pamela yelled as a large mirror shattered against the wall, "Emma! EMMA!" She bellowed.

The psionic awoke with a start, and as she did, everything fell to the ground. The bed falling to the floor abruptly made Emma wide awake as she pulled her night mask off her eyes. She looked around and gaped at the two people standing in the doorway,

"What did you do to my room?"

* * *

Paige opened the door of her room to find the smell of bacon hitting her nostrils instantly. She opened her eyes to see Aidan fully dressed in the kitchen and moving something around the pan. He turned around and beamed at the bleary eyed witch, "Hey, breakfast's ready!"

"Why is my breakfast being made for me?"

He moved over slightly to flip some pancakes, "Well, this is my way of saying thank you for letting me stay on the couch while I'm here…"

"Oh, well, you're welcome I guess. Although this place is still half yours," She took a bite of the bacon he had just put on the plate, "Mmm… Thank you breakfasts always taste that little bit better. Where are the girls?"

"In their room. Bathed, fed and dressed,"

"Wow… Thanks," She took another bite and looked at his back as he turned around, "So, how long are planning on staying?" Paige asked cautiously.

He stopped moving around in the kitchen, "Uh… I don't know. But I'll need to leave soon, there's stuff I got to take care of,"

"Royal business?" She murmured.

"Something like that…"

They continued to eat in silence until crying burst from the baby monitor on the counter. Paige sighed and picked it up while putting her fork down, "I'll get this one…" She offered before jumping off the barstool and walked sleepily towards the twin's room…

* * *

Phoebe cocked her head and frowned as she took a picture off the mantelpiece in the living room. She was careful to wake the man sleeping on the sofa since he had been kind enough to give up his bed. It was a picture of the man, her, and a little baby in a stroller; she had already met this baby and still couldn't believe it was hers! She had never thought of herself as the type to settle down and have kids. The now mortal woman touched her face in the photo, seeing her smiling while she knelt down to entertain the boy in the pushchair. Everything was such a blur to her, and she didn't like it.

A groan from the couch told her that the man was now awake; she sat down on the coffee table in front of him and smiled as he opened his eyes. He blinked a few times before opening his eyes widely.

"Good morning," Phoebe greeted him.

"Huh? Oh… Morning," He rubbed his eyes, "Did you sleep well?"

She nodded, "I guess it's because I can't remember anything to stress about that would keep me awake," Phoebe nodded her head towards the stairs, "Your boy hasn't woke up yet. How old is he?"

"Well…" Brennan thought for a moment, "He'll be one in four months…" They sat in silence, "Do you remember anything?"

Phoebe sighed and shook her head, "No, the last thing I remember is standing here with you and all those people looking at me,"

"Yeah, that was your family." Brennan had decided not to tell Phoebe about magic, as to someone with amnesia it wouldn't really help their cause, "Do you want to go see them later?"

"No, it's okay. Can I just stay here with you and the baby? What better place to start gathering my memories than with my immediate family, right?" She smiled nervously.

"Uh… one problem with that. I have to go to work," He sat up and widened his eyes more.

"What do you do?" He laughed slightly at her question, "What's so funny?"

"What? Oh, sorry, it's just a little strange explaining this stuff to you. I'm a doctor,"

Phoebe raised her eyebrows, "A doctor? So that's how you… we, can afford this big house,"

"Yeah, but you've got a pretty successful career yourself," He picked up a newspaper on the coffee table and turned to a specific page before handing it to Phoebe, whose eyes widened at the full page advert. It was a picture of her sitting at a desk smiling with the caption "Ask Phoebe. She Has All The Answers" underneath.

"Oh my God… I'm an advice columnist?" She breathed.

He nodded, "A pretty successful one too," He threw the sheets off himself and got off the couch, "I'm going to get dressed, unless you want to go first?" He asked.

"Uh… No," She put the paper down and stood up, "I think I'll go and sit with…"

"Connor," Brennan filled in the blank for her.

She sighed, "I'm sorry. I feel horrible. I don't even know my own son's name…"

"Hey…" He rubbed her arm, "You'll get there eventually,"

"I hope so,"

* * *

Paige smiled as she laid her two month old daughter down into her crab. She turned on the bubble shaped mobile and Emma began to gurgle slightly and smile at the floating distraction above her head. Melinda began to fuss in her crib, "There, there honey," Paige said softly and she picked up her daughter and patted her on the back. Suddenly, both girls began to whimper and their shield sprouted from their tiny bodies, a net of orbs protected Paige and Melinda while a dome of water kept Emma shielded from whatever they sensed.

"Uh… Melly? What's the problem?" Paige looked around nervously from the sphere of lights that protected her.

There was a bright flash at the closed door and Paige watched as a person began to form from toe to head. The witchlighter watched as high heeled leather boots began to appear, followed by thin legs covered with fishnet tights, a short leather skirt clung to the forming waist, then followed by a tight red top covered with a leather jacket. Paige waited for the woman's face to show, her skin was quite pale and her cheekbones framed her face perfectly along with dark red hair.

"Who are you?" Paige snarled, knowing that if the twins had raised her shields, this woman was a threat.

"Get away from my children…" She growled.

The witchlighter's eyes flashed with rage, "Excuse me?" She tightening her hold on Melinda slightly and wished she was holding Emma too. Paige continued to stare at the woman until her child went silent in her arms, "Mel?" She whispered, until the shield of orbs began to waver and it finally retreated back into her daughter. Paige's face paled when she realized that Mel had went limp in her arms. The woman smirked and raised her hand to attack.

Paige looked around frantically until seeing a weapon, "Mirror!" She raised her free hand and threw it towards the woman, making a mirror on the wall be consumed in orbs and be thrown at the woman, "Aidan!" She shouted desperately, hoping he would be able to save them as the intruder began to get up from the mirror hitting her.

The elemental burst through the door and quickly scanned the room. Paige expected him to attack the woman on the floor, but instead he sighed and helped her up,

"Katrina, what are you doing here?"

"Well… you haven't been back for a couple of days and I was getting worried," She put her arms around his neck and went to kiss him, but he stopped her when he saw the desperate look in Paige's eyes.

"Aidan… It's Mel, she's…" Paige continued to try and wake her daughter by shaking her gently.

Aidan quickly pushed Katrina's arms off his neck and rushed to Paige's side, "What is it? What's wrong?"

"She's not waking up! Heal her!" She begged, tears now running down her face. A blue glow came from Aidan's hands as he used all his power to try and revive Melinda, but he eventually took his shaking hands away,

"It's not working…" He breathed, looking the verge of tears himself.

Paige gave everyone in the room a wide eyed look before turning her head heavenwards.

"Leo!"

* * *

Leo and Aidan now stood over the unconscious baby in the crib, her chest was rising and falling weakly while the two with healing power released brilliant blue and golden light from their palms, basking Melinda in a green glow. Wyatt, who had come with Piper and Chris, decided that he had to help and held his hands over his little cousin, a bright flash of gold lit up the room as the most powerful healer began to work.

Paige sat in the windowsill crying into Piper's chest as her big sister hugged her lovingly. Emma knelt down and held her hand, doing her best to calm down her bawling friend.

"Sweetie, everything's going to be okay. We're not going to let anything happen to the girls, okay?" Piper hushed her little sister and kissed and the top of her head. "And Mel's going to be fine."

"You don't know that. She suddenly just… fainted in my arms and she's not waking up! How can you tell me that she's going to be okay?"

Katrina stood looking at her nails, "Aidan, let's just grab the kid that's still alive and go. She's the one who has your powers anyway,"

Paige shot her a look, "I didn't know there were hookers in Atlantis," She spat.

"For your information…" She glared, "I am a princess,"

Even in her pain and worry, Paige couldn't help but laugh, "Hah! What are you? Princess of Trampdom?"

Another slew of insults were cut off by a faint cry coming from Melinda's crib. The youngest Charmed One was immediately up on her feet, "Oh! It's okay, baby, you're okay…" She held the recovering baby.

"Aidan!" The leather clad woman whined, "Get the one in the bubble…" She pointed to Emma, who was still protecting herself with a water dome, "And let's go!"

"Just shut up, Kat!" Aidan snapped as he stroked the blonde locks of his daughter.

"How is this marriage going to work if you don't have an heir? It'll be easier to take your existing children, I mean, look at their mother! Her body's been ruined by having children, and if you think I'm going to destroy my figure by bearing a kid, then you are seriously mistaken,"

Paige stood, completely stunned and outraged by this woman's insane notion that she was going to take Emma, "If you think for one minute that my kids are going to set one foot in Atlantis, then you were horribly mistaken!" She carefully handed Melinda to her godmother and snapped round to Aidan, "And you're married to this thing? When were you planning on telling me? I mustn't have been very hard to get over if she is sharing your bed! Is that why you came back? To try and take the girls away from me?"

"Of course not!" He shouted, "Do you really think I would take them away from you? And do you really think I would marry her? It's an arranged marriage! It was set up years ago to unite two kingdoms!"

"And that's supposed to make it better?" She yelled.

"Um… guys? Maybe you should move into the other room," Emma started as she jiggled Melinda in her arms, trying to calm her down.

"Alright, but keep an eye on Mel and don't let Emma out of your sight!" The half witch ordered before she stomped out of the room with Aidan and continued the fight after slamming the door shut, "When you left me, I thought that I would never see you again. I was just starting to get my life back on track, even with everything that was going on with Phoebe; I knew that we would pull through. And then you come in… with-with your trident and your longer hair!" She pulled slightly at the blonde hair behind his ear, "And you ruin everything. You're just… confusing me so much…" Tears began to sprouts from her eyes, "… And I can't take it… I can't fight with you anymore, I'm too tired…" She covered her face with her hands and began to sob quietly.

Aidan didn't know what to say to her. Instead, he awkwardly wrapped his arms around her and pulled Paige into a strong embrace. She continued to cry into his chest, not even realizing she was being comforted by the person she was most angry at. Paige took her hands away from her face and wrapped her arms around his lower chest, trying to hold onto him as tightly as possible.

"I am… so sorry," Aidan whispered a cracked voice, "I love you… so much. I never wanted to hurt you…" He planted a kiss on the top of head and tightened his hold on her.

Paige pulled back and clung onto his t-shirt desperately, "I never want to move…" She whispered, staring into his emerald green eyes that were filled to the brim with emotion.

Aidan gave her an intense stare as he slowly brought his hand up to her face, brushing away her tears with his thumb before leaning in and kissing her. Everything alive within the two of them exploded in passion as their lips connected. Paige let out a moan of happiness, before yanking herself away and stumbling back.

"I can't do this… not again…" She whispered, touching her lips before running out the room…

* * *

Phoebe sat looking at the dairy she had found tucked under the mattress of the bed she had slept in the night before. She had her legs crossed as she sat on the bed, her eyes widening with every page she turned. This seemed more like a supernatural novel more than a journal! Her head shot up when she heard the baby crying, Phoebe sighed and closed the book over, quickly glancing at the strange symbol on the front before clambering off the bed and heading towards Connor's room.

She gasped when she reached the door, seeing a dirty looking man leering over the child with a knife in his hand, while Connor was surrounded by a humming blue bubble! Phoebe took a slight step forward, for some reason; she felt confident, "What the hell…?" She breathed. The man turned towards her, smirking. Phoebe didn't know what made her do it, but she instinctively grabbed the top of the doorframe and swung her legs towards the attacker, kicking him hard in the chest and sending him to ground. The dagger rolled out of his hand. Phoebe's eyes widened as a sparking ball of blue appeared in his hand. The man threw it and Phoebe managed to duck just in time and dove towards the dagger, she grabbed it and threw it out from her palm. The weapon struck the man the back and he caught on fire. Phoebe's face went pale as the man screamed, he suddenly blew up amidst the flames and left a scorch mark on the floor, leaving the witch with amnesia to wonder what the hell just happened…

* * *

**NEXT TIME:** In trying to find what Melinda's illness is, Paige accidentally summons her nineteen year old daughters from the future, along with Phoebe's future daughter, sixteen year old Faith. The twin's parents avoid each other while Katrina is still lurking around; Emma is shaken to the core when future knowledge is shared with her while trying to get a handle on her psychokinetic abilities. Piper gives Aidan a place to stay in the form of P3's back room, and perhaps Connor's future psychic sibling can save his mother's memory?

Chapter 24 **"Of Water and Orbs"** should be up soon!


	24. Of Water And Orbs

_Sorry about the late update you guys, I've been SO busy lately. But this chapter is longer than most so I hope that makes up for it!_

**Kendalpaigecharity** – Thanks! I'm glad you liked it!

**Prince Halliwell** – Yeah, Emma was psychokinetic. But she's stripped herself of her advanced powers, that would everything but telempathy and psionic blasts, this psychokinesis is part of those powers advancing and not part of her "master" powers. I'll put a list of the girls' powers at the end of the chapter. Glad you liked it all!

**Phoebe turner** – Ugh… Computers, you love them and hate them. Thanks for reviewing!

**Pangea** – Yeah, I think it's a bit unfair how they've damned Cole for eternity, I'm glad you liked it.

**Phiona** – Yeah, silly mistake on my part. I've fixed it.

**Piperfairy** – Don't worry, Brennan and Phoebe will pull through! And I just had to throw in Katrina for a little angst!

**Princess Pinky** – Lol, "the brat" every family has one, except in my case it's my older sister. I just had to throw in Katrina! She'll make for a sht stirrer! And Mel's illness will be explained in this chapter. Yeah, I put in those Piper and Emma moments just for a little comedy to lighten the mood.

**Ravenix** – I know. That damn Tribunal! Lol, that seems to be everyone's opinion of Katrina. And yes, Paige and Aidan reuniting also seems to be the popular opinion lol! That's a lot of hopes there!

**Chyp** – Thanks!

**Unique deflection** – Ugh… Spain, you lucky devil! I'm glad you've liked all the chapters you've missed!

**Andy20** – Thanks! I haven't really updated quickly… (Hangs head in shame)

**Wyatt halliwell** – I've been pretty busy lately. I'm glad you liked them!

**Of Water And Orbs**

Paige pushed the door open of P3 and walked down the stairs towards the main area. The half witch frowned when she saw Emma kneeling down, sweeping glass off the floor and a mop was sweeping the floor behind the psionic, absorbing the fluid that seemed to be on the floor.

"Emma?" Paige said in a questionable tone. The empath didn't look up, still sweeping the glass off the floor, "Hey! You deaf or something?"

She looked up, "What?" Emma snapped with a little annoyance. She let out a little yelp when the bucket that the mop had been floating into occasionally, suddenly flew across the room and hit the wall, making the bubbly liquid spill all over the floor, "Crap!" She cursed, putting the brush and shovel on the bar and putting her hands on her hips.

"New power problems?" The witchlighter smirked as she sat down at the bar, resting her forearms on the bar.

"It is driving me insane!" She exclaimed, picking up the knocked over bucket and going behind the bar, "This is ridiculous! I'm sabotaging myself with this power," The psionic shoved the bucket in one of the shelves and rubbed her temples.

"Headache?" Paige smirked.

"How did you know?"

"I call them Kinetic Pains. I used to get them if I used my telekinesis too much…" She looked into space wistfully, "Ah… the good old days,"

"Wanna take my new power?" Emma folded her arms and smirked, "I mean, I didn't even know I was doing that!" She gestured to the mop on the floor, "Next time it happens, I could end up with a knife in my back,"

"I seriously doubt it. So, do you know where Piper is? I came here to talk to her,"

Emma made a face as she took a cloth and began to wipe the bar, "Oh, I sent her home,"

"Excuse me? I didn't realize you were the owner of P3,"

The empath avoided eye contact and kept cleaning, "Well, a crate of beer fell off a table and she tried to freeze it. Three guesses what happened,"

Paige perked up, knowing that that was probably why there was a mess in the club, "She blew it up? Is she okay?"

Emma shrugged, "The glass cut her face a little bit, Leo healed her though. I convinced the poor girl to go home,"

"And the beer crate falling off the table wouldn't have anything to do with you, would it?"

The psionic sighed and threw the cloth down on the bar, "Grant called… from France,"

"Uh oh…" Paige's face dulled. Even though he lived in San Francisco, Grant's work usually called him to other countries, which usually meant that he and Emma usually got very little time with each other.

"You know, he says he's too busy. But he can sand over to me in a second, yet he's too busy? Ugh… anyway, I was pissed and my new power seems to be activated when I get angry and next thing I know, I hear glass shattering. Why do you want to talk to Piper anyway?"

"I was going to ask her to look after the twins tonight."

"Why don't you ask Aidan?"

She scoffed at the suggestion, "Because we're avoiding each other, I don't know where he is and I don't want to risk his little floozy taking the kids,"

"Um… Well, I can answer the second question for you," Emma replied nervously, picking up the cloth again and twisting it nervously. Suddenly, the door that led to the alleyway swung open and Aidan walked in carrying a crate of beer, "Hey Emma, where do you want the-," He was cut off by Paige gaping at him.

"Just… put them in the back!" The psionic replied with a high voice, sensing the tension in the room and wanting it to end. He nodded and walked towards another door, pushing it open with his knee before disappearing inside.

Paige suddenly reached over the bar and grabbed her friend's arm, "He's staying here?" She hissed.

Emma held up her hands, "Hey, it wasn't my idea. Piper offered him the back sofa when you kicked him out. I don't see you did that by the way, I mean, I felt the emotions coming from you guys when you left the room yesterday," She pretended to fan herself with the cloth, "I needed a cold shower afterwards."

The witchlighter groaned and run a hand through her dark hair, "I can't think about Aidan right now, I would rather think about what is wrong with my daughter,"

"Did you take her to the doctors?" Emma asked as she dried off a glass.

"Yeah, I explained what happened, leaving out the orb shield part. He checked her out and says that she was completely healthy, which makes me think this illness is magical, so…"

The psionic knew where was going to put her hand up, "Stop right there! We're not casting a spell. Do you want to get out the "personal gain" branding iron?"

She started to plead," C'mon Emma! Do you want Melinda to be ill?"

Emma responded with sighing and throwing the cloth down, "Ugh… Using my goddaughter as a bargaining chip, you're an evil woman. Alright, let's go,"

* * *

"Can I ask why I was needed for this?" Pamela rolled her eyes and folded her arms while anxiously tapping her foot off the attic floor.

"Because you're the one who's most powerful at the moment. Me and Piper have half of our powers and Phoebe is a mortal, if something goes wrong, you can help Emma fend off what ever I summon by accident," Paige explained as she set crystals on the floor, ready to trap what ever beast she may accidentally summon with a personal gain spell.

The teen nodded, "You're taking a lot of precautions for this. Who are you and what have you done with my real aunt?"

"Trust me, I would never do stuff like this, it's Emma who wants to. I had to pry chalk out of her hand to stop her from drawing a binding pentacle on Piper's floor!"

"She knows how to draw a binding pentacle? Wow, you learn something new everyday," Pamela mused while Paige gave her a strange look, "It's just that pentacles are very complicated. One mistake and you end up aiding the thing you're trying to capture instead of containing it," This got her another look, "I learned a few things when I was in Italy,"

"_You_ were in Italy?" Paige said in disbelief.

"Yeah, Rome is a beautiful city! Such great architecture, where do think I learned how to mould gargoyles?" She smirked smugly, "That reminds me. Arc!"

A quiet whistle sailed through the air as Arc suddenly flew through the door. He hovered in front of Pamela and did his best to bow in mid-air, "You called, Miss?"

"Yes. I would like you to stay here and be ready to attack hostile parties," Pamela informed the creature.

He nodded, "As you wish." The gargoyle floated silently towards a table and stood like a statue. Emma walked back in carrying a satchel of potions; she smiled and waved the pouch in the air.

"Okay, cast your spell. We're as ready as we're going to be,"

Paige rolled her eyes, "Are you sure? Because I could get a SWAT team in for back up," She smirked at her scowling friend before ripping the front page off a pad and reading the spell that she had written down.

"The few things that I now hold dear,

My child's illness is all I fear,

I now beseech all spirits divine,

Give me answers, make them mine,"

The three of them stood for a few seconds, until Melinda and Emma, who had both been sitting in the playpen, raised her arms and pointed towards the centre of the room. The twins giggled and bounced slightly as they sat, transfixed by swirling lights that were now appearing in the middle of the crystal cage. Echoes of bickering voices could be heard, they were getting clearer as three figures appeared. The first two girls looked almost identical, they had blonde hair down just past their shoulders and their green eyes stood out from their porcelain faces even from a fair distance. The only difference between them, apart from her clothes, was that one had straight hair and the other had curly hair. The third girl was completely different, her skin certainly wasn't as pale and dark brown hair with a slight red tint brushed her bare shoulders, as she wore a white halter top and black jeans with suede boots.

The three girls looked around in confusion, not noticing the other people in the room. The one with straight blonde hair sighed and put her hands on her hips, whipping round to the girl with brown-red hair.

"Oh God, what have done now, Faith?" She snapped.

Faith snorted on response, "Don't blame me, Mel. We both know your orbing is always a little off,"

Mel looked outraged, "Whoa. Too far,"

"Okay, guys…" The one with curly hair stepped in between the two and pushed the warring women apart, "Let's not start this again right now." She turned to her twin, "Mel, don't always blame Faith, and Faith, lay off power insults. You know the situation. I'll get us out of here. Crystal! Away!"

The girl waved her hand at one of the crystals, what happened next astounded Paige. The crystal was devoured by a surge of water and it turned into a bubble, which then proceeded to float at a high speed towards the wall and hit it, the crystal then rematerialized on the floor.

"E… Emma?" Paige breathed.

The three girls spun round and their eyes widened when they saw Paige, Emma and Pamela standing there, "Demons…" Future Emma growled, moving part of her blonde hair from her face before raising her arm and releasing a dark stream of black-purple light from her palm swiftly. Pamela quickly redirected it with her power while Arc flew off the table, conjuring an energy ball and preparing to fire before a flash of blue emitted from Faith's feet and she was propelled into the air. Sparks flew from the teen's feet as she tackled the gargoyle to the ground, but instead of instantly falling like Brennan's power, Faith hovered in the air with voltage sparking from her boots.

Emma stepped forward and conjured a psionic blast, preparing to fire at Mel, but Paige suddenly but her arm up and stopped her from taking another step, "Stop!"

Future Emma was raising her arm and about to fire another blast of darkness, but her twin pushed her arm down and pointed to Arc, who had recovered from Faith's tackle almost immediately, "Emma… Isn't that Arc? Look at those wings,"

"What? You mean Pam's Arc? But that's impossible. He was-,"

"Mom?" Mel suddenly blurted out, "Is it… really you?"

The colour from Paige's face drained as she realized that these two girls, these twins, were her two daughters!

* * *

"So…" Piper pointed a wary finger at Faith, "You're Phoebe and Brennan's daughter?"

"Um…" The teen exchanged a nervous look with her cousins, who were sitting on the sofa with their baby counterparts on their laps, "Yeah,"

"Okay, mini me? Please let go of my earring," Melinda winced as the giggling baby in her lap tugged at her loop earring.

"What age are you guys?" Pamela asked, she guessed that the twins were older than her.

"We're nineteen. And she's…" Future Emma shared a look with her sister, "We probably shouldn't tell you,"

Faith flopped her arms down on the armrest, "What am I? The world's biggest secret?"

"Faith…" Melinda warned.

"Just because I don't exist yet…" She whipped her head around to Pamela, "I'm sixteen,"

"Faith!" The blonde witch snapped again, making her infant counterpart begin to cry. The youngest cousin let out a frustrated sigh and leapt off the chair, storming out of the living room and slamming the front door as she left the Manor. Future Emma sighed and handed Baby Emma to her mother, preparing to go after her.

"No," Paige stopped her, "I think that will require a mother's touch,"

Melinda shook her head immediately, "Definitely not. She has a lot of issues with Aunt Phoebe and Uncle Brennan, so it's better they stay away,"

"What kind of issues?" Piper questioned.

"The kind we can't discuss,"

Future Emma put her hands in the back pockets of her pants, "Mom, is… um… Dad around?"

"Emma, don't." Melinda warned.

Paige let out a chuckle as her face reddened, "It's so weird hearing words like 'Mom' and 'Dad" being thrown around…" She looked at her daughters, "If you really want to see him, he'll be at P3 probably,"

"Great!" Future Emma grinned before leaving in a torrent of water, leaving everyone stunned.

"I think I should follow her…" Emma whispered to Pamela, before orbing out.

Melinda took a deep breath as she put her baby self in the playpen, "So why did you summon us?"

"That's what I want to know!" Piper chipped in.

Paige rolled her eyes, "Well, it wasn't intentional." She shot a look at her big sister, "I was worried about you, well, not you, baby you. She… I mean, you, ugh… this is going to be confusing," The witchlighter groaned, "Anyway, baby you passed out yesterday and I wanted to know why, so I cast a spell to find out. I just didn't think that it would summon you guys,"

Melinda's eyes began to go misty, "I guess my illness is rearing its ugly head…"

The two Charmed Ones sat forward a little, "Illness?"

* * *

Faith leant against the fence of the porch on the Manor steps. The witch pulled out a black lighter from her jean pocket and opened it out, flicking the lever and igniting the flame. She repeated this process until she heard a car pull up at the front of the house. Her brow furrowed until she scowled as the woman coming out of the front seat with a baby, it was Phoebe with her older brother. Faith rolled her eyes even more when her father got out the other side, seeing him dote over Connor.

"Um… You should be careful with that." Brennan pointed casually to the lighter in Faith's hand.

"You have no right to tell me what to do…" The teen growled in response before opening the door and storming back into the Manor.

"Do we know her?" Phoebe asked, smiling at Connor on her hip, "Because she seems…"

"Familiar?" Her husband filled in, "Yeah… I got that feeling too,"

* * *

Pamela walked out the kitchen door and looked around the garden. She had heard a dull repetitive sound coming from outside and decided to check it out, the noise got louder as the Halliwell walked out more, it didn't take long for her to figure out that it was coming from the driveway. She smirked when she saw her future cousin Emma, bouncing a basketball off the cement and throwing it into the hoop that Pamela had asked to be installed on the side of the house.

"I'm so glad this is here in this time," Emma commented before throwing the ball into the air. It rolled around the rim of the hoop before going in.

"You're pretty good. I take it you weren't the "Barbie" kind of girl,"

She grinned, "You got that right. Melinda was the one who liked dolls, gave me a basketball any day,"

"Who taught you?" Pamela asked, leaning on the wall and folding her arms.

Emma cocked her head slightly, "My Dad. And you of course, basketball," She called. The ball was devoured by a surge of water and reappearing in the blonde's hand, she moved a lock of her curly hair out of her eyes before throwing the ball at the net again, but this time, it suddenly veered off course and landed in Pamela's hand.

"Speaking of your Dad, did you and Emma find him?"

"No…" She looked crestfallen, "He wasn't at P3. What?" Emma frowned, seeing the expression on her cousin's face.

Pamela blinked a few times, "Sorry. It's just a little hard for me to my head round the fact that you're older than me right now when your little counterpart is only about three months old. I mean, I don't know anything about your personality, do we get along?"

She didn't get an answer, so she was caught off guard when Emma suddenly walked towards her and hugged her, making her drop the basketball.

"Please be careful…" Emma whispered.

Pamela's eyes began to mist as she pulled away, "I'm not… in your future anymore, am I?"

The twin was about to say more, when a crash and scream from inside shattered her concentration. The two exchanged looks before running back in the house…

* * *

Macreaus effortlessly whipped his tail around at a high speed, hitting Piper in the stomach and sending her sailing across the living room and skidding along the floor into the solarium. A trickle of blood flowed subtly from the side of her mouth. Emma shot off a warning psionic blast to hold him off so she could help her friend. The scaly demon grinned and hurled an energy ball towards the psionic, who had her back to him as she was helping Piper up.

"Energy ball!" Melinda yelled, holding out her palm. The sphere began to disappear in orbs before they fizzled out and the energy ball continued its path. The twin eyes glazed over as she held her hand up at her face, "No… not now…" She whimpered, her frame shaking violently as she fought to stay conscious. Emma raised her hand without turning around, tapping into her psychokinetic powers and sending the attack back at Macreaus. Paige was immediately at her future daughter's side, she smiled when she saw her two babies in the playpen. Emma had raised her water shield to protect her sister while Connor protected his mother, who didn't know what to do with herself.

Faith looked around, quickly checking the situation. The only one fully exposed was her father, and even though it pained her to admit it, she had to keep him safe to ensure her own existence. Using one of her mother's signature levitation moves, a screech of voltage sounded as blue sparks flew from her feet, propelling her into the air and spinning her horizontally and kicking Macreaus in the chest, burning him slightly with the electricity from her feet.

"Stupid brat!" The blue demon spat, bearing his teeth and getting up at lightning speed, heading towards his enemy and raising his tail.

He didn't know what suddenly came over him in those moments, but something made Brennan run towards the teenage brunette and pushed her to the ground. Macreaus's tail whipped around and he threw it forward, piercing Brennan in the chest and making the end come out his back. The mutant spat up blood, dying instantly with only the demon's hold keeping him standing.

Faith's body suddenly began to fade away. A golden line of erosion began to make her limbs disappear. The teen raised her fast fading hand to her face and sneered, "Aw… Shi-," Her sentence was cut off by her body completely fading away.

"NO!" Melinda screamed as she turned to towards the killer of her uncle, her eyes were wide with rage as she raised her hands, hoping that the opposing ability of her sister's power would pull through.

"Mel, don't!" Future Emma yelled as she run in with Pamela, she noticed the corpse of her uncle and realized what was about to happen, "Mel…" She coaxed, "If you do that, you're going to bring down the rest of the house along with everyone in it,"

"He killed him…" She growled in response, a searing light beginning to form in her palms.

Macreaus seemed to be amused by this challenge and began to walk towards Melinda, that was his first and last mistake. With a piercing scream, she jutted out her arms and two massive golden, searing, beams of light flew from her palms. Everyone who witnessed this had to step back from the heat that came from this attack. The demon's eyes widened as he met his end, letting out a painful moan as he was vanquished by the photokinetic blast.

"MEL!" Future Emma bellowed. She raised her hands and shot the same black-purple light from her hands that she had done in the attic, the two colliding forces met and the twins were locked together by the union of light and darkness. The entire family stood with wide eyes as the tug of war continued, but it didn't last long as Melinda suddenly fell to the ground and began to shake violently, "Mel… sweetie, I'm sorry," Future Emma whispered as she bent down and brought her hand hard across her sister's face, knocking her out as she was already severely weakened.

"Someone help me get her to the couch," The blonde said calmly. Paige immediately stepped in, a look of fear washing over her face as sweat drenched her future daughter.

Phoebe handed her son to Emma, who had just finished helping Piper onto the sofa from her injury. She knelt down beside her dead husband and began to weep quietly, until she started a wail and but her arms over his bleeding torso…

* * *

The Manor was deadly quiet that night. Paige worked silently and as she wrung out a wet cloth and dabbed it on her daughter's forehead, the witchlighter looked exhausted, but she wasn't going to abandon Melinda in a time when she needed her most. The youngest Charmed One scrunched up her eyes when she heard a gush of water and knew that Aidan was standing behind her, along with Katrina.

"Are the girls okay? I just had this feeling…" He began.

Paige sighed, "That pair is," She whispered softly, gesturing to the two bassinets in the room, "The older pair however…" She pressed the flannel down gently onto Melinda's forehead.

"Aidan," Katrina's voice whined, "Can we go back to Atlantis? This commoner air isn't good for me,"

Paige let out a territorial grunt, "I thought I made it clear that I didn't my kids anywhere near _that_," She spat.

"You really should be nicer to your children's new mother," The so called princess scowled.

That was it. Paige stood up, eyes blazing, "Lay a hand on my children and you won't live along enough to regret it,"

"Katrina…" Aidan said with annoyance, "Go away. Go back to Atlantis if you want,"

The redhead looked baffled, not understanding why he would choose to stay among commoners. With a frustrated sigh, she disappeared in a flash of light.

"So she's…?" The elemental frowned at the young adult on the couch.

"Our little girl," Paige responded simply, "Stay with her. I'm going to get her sister," She walked off towards the kitchen.

Aidan sat down on the coffee table next to Melinda; he smiled when he saw the resemblance to Paige and himself. It pained him to see her like this so he thought he would try to help by trying a little something. The elemental put his hand over her forehead and a soft blue light emitted from it. This wasn't healing, but it might make Melinda a little more comfortable. He pulled his hand away with a sigh, seeing that it had made no difference, until a whimper sounded from her lips and her eyes opened.

"Daddy…?" She choked out in her delirium.

"Yeah, I'm here…" Aidan whispered back, taking her hand.

She sighed, "Please… don't go…" The blonde tightened her grip on her father's hand as much as she could.

Aidan smiled at her, "I'm not going anywhere…"

The elemental used his free hand and picked up the flannel that was in the water filled bowl on the coffee table. He squeezed it so the excess water would fall out, and lightly dabbed Melinda's head. It was at this very moment that Aidan realized…

He was a father.

* * *

Future Emma took another puff from the cigarette in her hand while twirling a lock of her curly hair in her fingers. She sighed when she heard the back door open and she looked up from the back step to see her namesake standing at the kitchen exit.

"You shouldn't have those you know. They're bad for you," Emma advised as she sat down, "You got a spare?" She grinned.

The blonde teen smirked, pulling out a box and handing it to her, "Help yourself,"

"Thanks…" The redhead replied, stuffing it in her mouth and taking the lighter, igniting the cigarette and taking the first draw.

"I wouldn't have thought of you to be the smoking type," Future Emma mused as she took another puff, blowing the smoke out into the night air.

"I'm not. It's only when I'm stressed out, I think teenagers fading from existence and a dead friend qualifies," The teen sighed in response. Emma frowned, "You don't seem too torn up about everything,"

"I'm not. Once Melinda gets her strength back, we can bring Uncle Brennan back to life and that should bring back Faith. I mean, Mom knows what Melinda's illness is so we can go home after we fix our mess,"

"Wait, how can you bring him back to life?" Emma looked dumfounded, "He's… dead. I've got a bawling Charmed One in there to prove it!"

Future Emma smiled and took another puff, "We're magical twins. When we get together, some pretty freaky stuff happens with magic. And speaking of Aunt Phoebe, why is she so upset when she doesn't remember anything?"

"She doesn't remember the experiences, she remembers the love and that it's been taken abruptly from her," They sat in silence, "So… You mind if I ask you a few questions?"

Future Emma rolled her eyes, "Shoot,"

"Powers. Explain them! Because you guys seem to be pretty well stocked in that department,"

She let out a laugh, "I wouldn't say we're well stocked. Faith only has two powers, premonitions and jet levitation,"

"Jet levitation?"

"Yeah, it's a cross of her parent's powers. And my power only exists to counteract Mel's, umbrakinesis…" She mused over the name of her power, "The Elders gave it to me when Mel's photokinesis almost killed her,"

"Which brings me to my next question… What's wrong with Mel?"

Future Emma run a hand through her hair, "Every witch has a magical essence. Mel's isn't consistent and it effects her health, sometimes she'll be extremely powerful, which makes her extremely ill, and sometimes she won't be able to orb without fainting,"

"Wow… Must have been hard Paige and Aidan,"

"No… It was hard on Mom. Dad wasn't around much…" Emma scowled, "And Pamela was there for us even more afterwards…"

"After what?" Emma laid a hand on the teen's shoulder, "You can tell me,"

"… It was just a normal afternoon. I wasn't at the house with Mom and Mel, I can't remember why… Anyway, a demon attacked, and… my Mom wasn't looking. She was helping Mel after she fainted, and the demon caught her off guard and…"

Emma's eyes had begun to mist up as the blonde told this story, "Oh my God."

"Pam was like a mother to us after it happened. She took us in, helped us so much,"

A tear fell down the redhead's cheek, "Is… is there anyway to stop this?"

"Yeah…" Emma mashed her cigarette into the stone step, "You can get my parents back together,"

* * *

The group stood around Brennan's body. It had been splashed up to the attic with Aidan's help still had a blood soaked sheet over it for respect. Pamela looked at the body of her uncle with tears in her eyes before turning to her cousins,

"Um… Is there any way you can do this without taking off the sheet?"

Emma smiled wryly while holding up her weak sister up, "Yeah, don't worry. A sheet isn't much of a road block when you have the power to bend the laws of magic," She turned to Melinda, "Can you do this?"

The straight haired blonde nodded slowly, "Just keep me together… alright sis?"

The teen nodded in response and took a deep breath, raising a shaky arm towards Brennan. Melinda followed her actions, her movements slower and less steady. The twins snapped their eyes and shut and seemed to be concentrating intensely. Everyone gave them a look as if nothing was happening, until the red haired Emma took a deep breath and stumbled back.

"That power…" She put her hand on her chest, "It's incredible!"

Paige decided to see what all the fuss is about. She glared at her daughters and peered onto the astral plane with her powers, she gasped and covered her eyes from the sheer magic that was blinding her soul and shaking all the magic in the room.

A beam of bright light shot from their palms, shooting into Brennan's chest through the sheet and making his entire body glow. It seemed to be working until Mel's eyes began to glaze over,

"I can't… hold it…" She breathed.

Aidan suddenly stepped up and took hold of her free hand, "Yes you can sweetheart, I know you can,"

Paige followed suit and took hold of Emma's free hand, "You can do this…" She urged.

The light from the twins' hands became stronger as their parents supported them. Brennan's foot twitched and he suddenly sat up, throwing the sheet off his body and looking around, seeing his family staring at him.

There was a bright flash and Faith suddenly reappeared. She grinned and began to feel her legs, laughing with joy as she realized she was back, "Oh… Thank God! My face!" She began to paw at her nose and cheeks.

Future Emma rolled her eyes, "You want me to get you a room?"

* * *

"What are the chances of this working?" Phoebe asked with uncertain eyes as Faith took her hands.

"I don't know, but I've did something like this before. Just focus on your desire to remember and I'll do the rest," Her future daughter assured her.

"We'll work on the potion that will open the portal to get you guys back home," Paige said to the future visitors before walking out the room with everyone else. Faith closed her eyes and began to whisper something only audible to her before light began to flow from her hands to her mother's, whose eyes had also been closed. The light ended abruptly and Faith has blasted back, throwing her into a nearby table.

Phoebe blinked a few times before realizing what was going on, "Faith…" She whispered, getting up off the floor, "Are you okay?" She held out her hand to help up the brown haired teen.

"Do you remember anything, Aunt Phoebe?" Melinda asked, now having her full strength back.

"Yeah." She tapped her daughter on the arm, "You'll need to show me how to do that sometime,"

"Easy." Faith said coldly, "I got you your memories, not your powers. It's up to you to get them back,"

Paige, Emma and Brennan came into the room, each of them with a vial of blue potion in their hands. The dark haired mutant gave his wife a strange look and walked towards her, stuffing the potion in his pocket,

"Do you remember anything?" He asked hopefully. Phoebe smirked in response, grabbing his t-shirt and pulling him in towards her, planting her lips on his and locking them in a passionate kiss. Paige and Emma grinned while the three girls looked repulsed.

Phoebe finally pulled away, licking her lips, "Mmm… Nope, sorry, my mind's a blank!" She grinned to him. Her smile expanded even more when Piper came in holding Connor, "Hey, my little guy!" She took him from her sister and kissed his messy black hair lovingly, "I missed you!"

"The potion's done." Emma held it up, and then pointed to the triquetra drawn on the wall, "You guys ready to go?"

"Yeah," Future Emma replied, she moved towards her mother along with her sister, hugging her tightly, "We need Dad…" She whispered into Paige's ear.

"Please don't cut him out completely…" Melinda added.

Paige smiled and kissed her daughters hair, "Anything for my girls…"

Faith stood awkwardly in front of her parents and sibling, who was smiling, now that he had his mother back. Phoebe smiled and put an arm around her neck, hugging her,

"Something tells me you're going to be hell to raise," She grinned, knowing that her daughter probably inherited her wild side.

Faith bit her lip. It took every ounce of her being not to blurt out the truth, "I turn out okay, as you can see!" She twirled.

"Why's your hair got a reddish tint to it?" Brennan frowned.

She grinned in response, "Now, I can't really go around sharing knowledge of future hair products, can I? Don't worry about me so much,"

Brennan chuckled, "Hey, you're my little girl. What do you expect?"

They all shared a moment before a crackling sounded from the wall, everyone turned their head to see the portal opening with a blue light. There was a flash as a tall dark haired man came through it, carrying a little girl with dark brown hair. The man looked a little older than Piper and the girl looked around Wyatt's age.

Melinda's eyes widened, "Keith, what are you doing?" She exclaimed.

"Melly!" The little girl cried, beaming at the blonde girl.

Emma's eyes narrowed, "What if Peyton sees "you know who"?"

Keith rolled his electrifying blue eyes, "I couldn't exactly go trekking across realms looking for you guys and leave my daughter behind. How did you guys get here anyway?"

Faith held her hands up, "Hey, it wasn't me this time."

"Hey!" Pamela's voice came from downstairs, "I'll be up in a minute!"

Peyton's eyes seemed to glitter when she heard the teen's voice; she bounced in her father's arms, "Daddy! Daddy! It's Mo-," She was cut off by Keith covering her mouth gently.

"Alright you three," The man said tiredly, "In the portal. Now, please?"

The three girls rolled their eyes together and gave a last look at their family before walked towards the portal there was a glow from the vortex and they disappeared. Keith removed his hand from Peyton's mouth and smiled at everyone,

"Thanks for looking after them," His eyes turned to the door where he could footsteps, "See you," The man stepped inside the portal and disappeared, making the blue light vanish and returning the wall to normal.

Pamela came into the room, frowning when she saw that her future cousins had disappeared, "Did you send them back already?"

"Um… Yeah, we would have called but they really needed to get back. Timeline and everything," Piper quickly explained.

"Oh…" She looked disappointed, "Well, I think I'm gonna go see Jenna then. Are we done here?" Everyone nodded quickly, "Okay…" Pamela gave her family a strange look, "Peace out," She walked out of the room, her brown-blonde hair swishing behind her as she moved.

"You don't think that Peyton is…" Piper gestured in the direction Pamela had gone.

"Actually…" Emma smiled a little, "I do,"

* * *

_I hope that made up for the late update! Although the girls visit has probably left more questions than answers!_

**NEXT TIME:** Realizing that he needs a new assassin, The Nameless One resurrects a particular demon that Piper and Phoebe thought they would never see again. Paige sorts out arrangements as Aidan returns to Atlantis. Emma and Grant get to spend more time with each other, and will Pamela have certain issues with The Nameless One's new servant?

Chapter 25 **"Mad Shax Murderer"** should be up soon!

**PS:** Okay, I know that there has been an EXTREME lack of Piper/Leo stuff in my fics, but after Chapter 30, that will change! I've got a pretty surprising story arc in store for the Wyatts! So be patient!

**PSS:** Well, I promised a list of power for the girls! Here it is!

Melinda – Orbing, Telekinetic Orbing, Photokinesis (ability to control light)

Emma – Splashing, Telekinetic Splashing, Umbrakinesis (ability to control darkness/shadows)

Faith – Clairvoyance, Jet Levitation


	25. Mad Shax Murderer

Wyatt halliwell – Thanks!

Phoebe turner – Keith won't be appearing for a long time yet. Glad you liked it!

Anainka – My God woman! I love your reviews! Damn right I missed it! Just replying to them is a bitch lol! Okay, here I go. Paige and Aidan – Hmm… I'm going to put them through so much! But believe that true love will prevail (rolls eyes at own retardedness) Faith – She is going to be a MAJOR part of the next fic, even from the womb! And ha! You found something to like about Brennan, his offspring! Piper/Leo arc – Oh yes, although you certainly won't like how it'll come about, but I'm sure you'll love it! And speaking of pink orbs… I was messing about with Adobe Photoshop and managed to tweak a picture of original orbing to make look PINK! Check out my profile! And feel free to shoot your questions in your review for this chapter (hint, hint :P)

Oracle85 – Thanks, and Faith's issues will be explained in the sequel.

Chyp – Thanks!

Prince Halliwell – Whoops, I just realized how unclear I was in the last chapter! The Elders only made Emma's original power of umbrakinesis more powerful, they didn't give it to her, they just boosted it so she could stop Mel if she took a fit. Lol, I meant for Faith to sound a bit like teen Phoebe! We both know that Brennan and Phoebe weren't exactly angels in their early years! Nah… I didn't want Pamela to have just one love interest, but you'll like Keith when the time comes, and read my reply to anianka to see a hint for the Piper/Leo story arc ;) And Katrina will be gone by the next chapter, see if you can guess how. And Faith's issues are a lot worse than Chris's.

Fanmania – Thanks!

Piperfairy – Lol, Thanks!

Unique deflection – Yeah, the shields is just a childhood thing, it's only there to keep them protected until they can protect themselves. Yeah, it doesn't seem to be a very bright future, huh? Most of your questions will be answered soon! I'm glad you liked it!

Princess Pinky – Ugh... Damn finals, but brightside, you're my 200th reviewer! Wow, I never thought this fic would be so popular! And you'll find how Zach leaves by the end of this fic, he doesn't die though, so don't worry! Heh, everyone seems to love Umbrakinesis! I'm glad you liked it all!

Pangea – Shax is the servant, but those issues don't last long, and neither does he! I'm glad you liked it!

**Mad Shax Murderer**

Piper held the rim of the large hat she was wearing as another salty breeze past her. Once it had passed, she brought her hand back down to the romance novel she was reading on the sand and flipped a page. The eldest witch heard a squeal of laughter coming from the water, she lowered her sunglasses slightly to see Brennan and Phoebe sitting at the very edge of the waves, dipping Connor's legs in and laughing along with their son as he felt the waves wash over his tiny legs.

"Piper! Come on in! The water's fantastic!" Emma yelled from a deeper part of the shore, treading water as she splashed water in Grant's direction, who pretended to take offence and splash her back.

"No! It's okay! I'm fine here!" Piper waved back, putting down her book and picking up Melinda as she began to fuss. Everyone else was in the water and since Leo and boys had gone to get ice cream, Piper had been landed with babysitting.

Where was a whoosh of water and Paige came out of the sea, she was wearing a mint green bikini and to the other men on the beach, she seemed to be irresistible as she was the only single woman among the large group. But their hopes faded when she saw her tickle baby Emma's chin, signifying she was a mother.

"Could you pass me a towel, please?" Paige asked her sister kindly. Piper reached into the bag beside her and threw a yellow towel playfully at her younger sister, who laughed in response, "You know you should get in the water. There's nothing like it to survive this sudden heat wave we're having," The witchlighter commented, dabbing the base of her bare neck with the towel and drawing even more attention from the opposite sex.

"I'm fine right here, are you and Emma conspiring against me?" She joked, pulling the sarong around her waist even tighter and moving her sunglasses back up to the bridge of her nose, "And get some sun block on for crying out loud, unless you want to be burned to a crisp!" The witch pulled her hat back down so her face could hardly be seen.

"What's with you? Any activity that might force you to show a little skin, you're avoiding,"

Piper looked down at her black bikini, "People are staring at me, Paige!" She hissed, reaching for the towel that her sister had finished with.

"Yeah, because they see you in your bikini and can't believe you've had two kids with a figure like that!" She gestured to Piper in general.

The eldest Halliwell lowered her nose into her book, "That's what Leo keeps saying…"

"Then Leo is talking sense!"

"Hey…" Phoebe ran towards them wearing a red bikini top and a light dress which was soaked from the water, "What's going on?"

"Piper's self conscious of her body," Paige rolled her eyes.

"Can we please talk about something else?" The brunette pleaded, turning another page.

"How about Pam's absence. Where is she?" Phoebe, sitting down and giving a little wave to Connor, who has splashing in the water with Brennan having a secure hold on him.

"She had to work today, apparently she organized some summer promotion and she needs to be there to supervise," Piper explained.

"Towel, please," Phoebe held out her hand as she sat down on the large towel that Piper had set up a beach umbrella and some sun loungers. She took the towel with a smile and began to rub her hair.

"Could someone pass me the sun block?" Piper reached for the bottle of lotion sitting at the edge of the towel. Paige sighed and handed it to her.

"You're sitting in the shade. Why do you need that?"

She rubbed the lotion on her arms, "You can never be too careful," Piper smiled as she closed the lid and handed it back to Paige, "Thank you,"

"Oh… look at this, Phoebe," The youngest sister put the sun block in front of the mortal's face, "It's waterproof! You know what that means?"

Phoebe's face contorted into a devilish grin, "Yeah Paige, I do,"

Without any warning, the two of them grabbed Piper's arms and pulled her up from the ground. She didn't have time to react and before Piper knew it, she was waist deep in the ocean…

* * *

Pamela tucked a piece of hair behind her hair as she quickly sprayed a mixture from a bottle on to one of the tables and swiftly wiped it with a cloth. She looked out towards the dark street that had a sliver of moonlight shining on it, beaming through the large front window of the store and casting a glow on the metal chairs.

The witch sighed as she brought the apron she was wearing over her head and threw it skillfully towards the hanger behind the counter. She hated being the one to lock up at night; it was just something about being alone in a dark store that gave her the chills, that and the wind that kept blowing through the room. The Halliwell moved over to far wall, picking up her leather jacket and swinging it over her shoulders before turning off the main light with slight hesitation.

Pamela zipped up the jacket and shivered as the wind passed through the area again, this time is was a lot stronger and had disturbed her hair. She cautiously reached for the large ring of keys on the counter and snatched them up, putting them in a pocket of her cargo pants moving towards the door.

Another gust of wind passed her, but this time it was so strong that it had sent a pile of napkins off a nearby. Pamela looked around, her blue eyes darting around the room, scanning for anything out of the ordinary.

"If this is someone's idea of a joke…" She warned, turning fully in the direction of the window, "They can forget it,"

When Pamela turned back towards the back of the store, she gasped in fright when she saw a man standing in front of her. His skin was a horrible grey colour, along with his hair that went to the middle of his back. He was dressed quite shoddily, with a loose rag of a jacket on his shoulders and revealing a grey chest of the same hideous colour, along with a pair of white pants that looked like pajama bottoms. But the thing that scared her the most was that, in the darkness, his eyes looked like two black holes in his face.

She stepped forward with a gulp, for some reason this demon terrified her more than others did, "What are you?" The witch asked.

The demon raised his arm, preparing to strike, "The end…" He replied in a low voice, before a blinding blue light shot from his hand. Pamela didn't have time to wage her own attack as the storm sphere hit her square in the chest, blasting her backwards, sending her through a dozen tables before she crashed through the front window. The glass smashed into tiny little pieces that rained down on the girl as she hit the sidewalk. The tiny fibers cut her face again and again as they fell, and coupled with blood seeping from her ear, Pamela was lucky that she had landed in front of a young couple that had been out for a night time stroll…

* * *

Piper was almost jogging as she arrived in the hospital lobby, her face has red and she was breathing heavily with Emma and Leo coming up the rear. The eldest witch looked around desperately, striding over to the desk and pushing people out of the way to talk to the nurse,

"Pamela Walker. Where is she?" Piper demanded. Leo put a gentle hand on her shoulder in an attempt to calm her down.

"Ma'am, there is other people-,"

"Where is she, dammit!" She slammed her hand down on the counter, even the people she had pushed out the way looked sympathetic for the woman who seemed to be having a meltdown.

"Um… Room five eighty, sixth floor," The nurse replied timidly.

"Thank you, that wasn't so hard now, was it?" Piper snapped in response.

The three of them moved to the elevator and the eldest witch pressed the button firmly. She stood tapping her foot irritably off the floor for two seconds before scoffing and walking towards a door.

"Screw this, I'm taking the stairs," She snarled, until Leo stopped her.

"Honey, I know you're worried, but the doctor on the phone said that she was fine. The only injuries are little cuts and bruises, so just be patient and wait for the elevator, please?" He pleaded.

Piper rolled her eyes, turning to the elevator as the door opened, "Alright, you win. Even though I caught on to your little calm down technique when you started talking about elevators,"

The doors opened and they all walked in, Piper pressing the six button over and over until the doors closed…

* * *

A tornado flying into the dark chamber almost blew out the torches that were hung on the wall. There was a clap of thunder and the wind died down, making Shax appear in their place. The Nameless One flamed in opposite, making the air ripple with the heat from his transportation. He raised his hand to his face, scratching his stubble and began to circle the wind assassin.

"You do good work. Although you didn't eliminate the girl," He commented, the leather jacket he wore moving slightly with each step.

"Fear first…" Shax croaked, "Then kill…"

"Be that as it may, I didn't bring you back to play mind games with the witches. I could have resurrected plenty other demons for that, I brought you back for the sheer muscle required. Not to mention your brutality and your vicious killer instinct…"

The wind demon fell silent.

"Enough with this petty haunting game and fulfill the task I asked you to do in the first place. One mistake on your part could result in them thwarting you, and if that happens, they thwart me too. Now go! And don't come back until the daughter is dead!" He warned, snapping his fingers and making Shax envelop himself in tornado and flee the scene.

"It won't work, you know,"

The Nameless One smirked, "I don't remember asking for your opinion, Seer,"

"Well I'm giving it to you…" The voice echoed, there was a bright flash and a cloaked female appeared in front of them, "I've monitored these witches for a while now. Every demon foolish enough to attempt a direct assault has been killed at their hands; do want your new assassin to meet the same fate as Macreaus?"

He clenched his fists, "Macreaus was a fool. He attacked in the presence of the future Charmed Ones, he might have been able to prevent such a demise if you had seen the future more clearly,"

"Timelines are dramatically changed when the future melds with the present. I could have given you information but it wouldn't have been correct, but you must destroy the oldest cousin and I highly doubt that Shax can perform this feat."

"Shax killed her mother," The demon pointed out, arguing his case.

There was a chuckle, "Appearance is where the similarity ends between mother and daughter. Pamela is a lot more powerful, not to mention surrounded by a powerful family, and you go and waste your resurrection skills on a wind assassin? Shame on you,"

"Aw…" The Nameless One taunted as he begun to walk around the cloaked woman, "Still sour from your plan being past over?"

She turned her head away from him, "Of course not. Although my plan is a lot less risky and gives us a back up in the case of your untimely vanquish,"

"Ah… but your plan involves a lot of obvious moves, which they would probably pre-empt in a matter of hours and come for you and your creation. Besides, we can't wait years for an offspring to grow up,"

"Not if I don't target the Charmed Ones. Perhaps that empath and her boyfriend that they seem to hold so dear," The male demon rolled his eyes, "It would certainly be less obvious and they would hesitate in attacking,"

He sighed in response, "Very well. Make preparations, but only if Shax doesn't succeed in his task," The Nameless One snarled, before flaming out of the cavern.

In the small amount of light that was reflected on the bottom half of her face, a thin smile crept onto the Seer's lips before she pulled her hood down more and vanished in a flash of light…

* * *

Pamela sighed as she tiredly flipped another page of the Book of Shadows. She caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror on the other side of the attic and grimaced, her face was covered in little scratches from being thrown through the glass. It wasn't serious though, the doctors had released her and Darryl was taking care of everything with the police.

"Hey," She looked up to see Emma standing in the doorway with her hair tied back and in pajamas, "You're up early,"

"Actually, I'm just up really late. I couldn't sleep," She closed the book and began to trace the shape of the triquetra on the cover with her finger.

"This demon has you pretty freaked," The psionic commented, sitting down in the rocking chair next to the sofa Pamela was on.

"I don't know what came over me…" The teen thought out loud as she stared at her reflection, "I couldn't use my powers. I just froze,"

Emma fell silent for a moment, "You look exhausted… Go to bed and get some rest, I'll look through the book,"

The teen gave her a wary look, before sighing and passing the book to her housemate, who accepted it with a smile and began to flip as Pamela left the room. Emma had only been flipping for a few seconds before a tower of sand carried her boyfriend to her.

She looked up and smiled, before gaping at what the elemental had in his hand, "What is _that_?"

Grant smiled at her. A giant double edged axe was firm in his grip. The tips of the blades seemed to be made of an unidentifiable metal while the rest of the blade was made of a dull marble that looked extremely heavy. The handle was made from some kind of slate material, which gave the entire weapon a dark and dangerous look to it, not to mention the rocky spikes that sat at each of the object.

"Now, I know for a fact you're not compensating for something," She smirked, "So why have you got an axe?"

"What? Aidan's got his trident and I have this. The Axe of Apollo." He said triumphantly.

"Apollo… is in, the Greek God?"

"Of Light." He finished. Emma gave him a strange look, "All elementals have a weapon forged for them. Skye has these really cool gauntlets and the Fire Elemental has a sword,"

"Speaking of elementals, are you guys any closer to tracking Fire down?" She asked, putting the book on the sofa and walking towards him.

He shook his head, "Actually, we need to wait until Danielle's amulet is found. Apparently that tells us who the new one is,"

Emma nodded; pretending to know what was going on, "So, you still haven't explained to me why you have brought this out of the Elemental Chamber… ow!" Emma immediately pulled back the hand she had been using to move her finger across the blade. She pouted and sucked on her finger lightly to stop it from bleeding.

"Well, you guys said that you we're dealing with a wind demon, and earth and wind are opposing elements so this little baby…" He held up the axe triumphantly, "Can do a lot of damage. Here, let me see that," He pulled her finger out of her mouth and put his hand over it, releasing a fine powder of sand over the cut and healing it completely.

"Aren't you handy…" Emma smirked, tugging at his collar a little making him bend down for a kiss, "May I?" She asked, holding out her hand for the axe.

"Alright…" Grant replied warily, "Be careful. It's heavy,"

She scoffed, "You're holding it with one hand!" As soon as the empathy picked it up from her boyfriend, it fell to the floor immediately and Grant barely caught it in time before the lethal blade sliced his foot.

"It's only meant for Earth elementals." He explained, "To me, it's as light as a feather, but to anyone else it weighs a ton!"

"So it's like Aidan's trident's defense shock?"

He nodded before putting the axe down on the table next to him, "You know, I haven't eaten yet. And it is breakfast,"

"The most important meal of the day…" Emma stated, putting her arms around his neck, 'So where you taking me for it then?"

"Well, wherever the sand takes us,"

She giggled as they sanded out, leaving no traces of their presence in the attic. Pamela walked back in, quickly glancing around for the book.

"So much or looking through the book…" She growled, putting the Book of Shadows under her arm and walking out of the room…

* * *

Phoebe moved a strand of hair from her face and looked up through the tree branches towards the sun, where small rays of sunlight were seeping through the holes of the swaying leaves and basking mother and child in the warmth.

"One year old." She kissed Connor on the head, "Is that how old you are?" The Halliwell said in a baby voice.

"Hey," A voice said. Phoebe looked up and smiled when she saw Paige walking towards her with the double pushchair that was carrying the twins. The witchlighter sat down next to her sister and pulled the stroller a little closer so she could comfort them if they woke up.

"Hey. I hope you don't mind me stealing your spot," She smirked.

She laughed, "Not at all." Paige turned her head and put her fingers in her mouth, whistling loudly, "Sandy!" She yelled. Within a few seconds, the golden Labrador was running towards its owner, who greeted her with affection. "Hey girl,"

"Aw… look at you," Phoebe said with a smile, "Cute dog, sweet kids…" She paused for a little, "How are things with Aidan?"

Paige sat back on the tree and sighed, "We've sorted out some stuff. He takes care of the kids every second weekend and I have them the rest of the time,"

"Any other stuff been sorted out?"

"No…" She shot her a look, "Aidan has that little bimbette of his, and I have…" Paige glanced at her dog and the twins, "My girls,"

"I'm three seconds away from throwing you into a convent," Phoebe said sourly.

"No, I'm actually quite happy with my life at the moment. With Aidan, I always felt as I there was something hanging over our relationship; he kept so many things from me. And now if I think there's something wrong with the girls, all they need is a burping, a diaper change or a feeding,"

"The simple life," Phoebe joked.

"Exactly. So, how are you adjusting to lifestyles of the mortal and powerless?"

"Actually," Phoebe nodded thoughtfully, "It's pretty good. I used to just use my powers to find out what this little guy wanted, but I'm learning to cope without being empathic and I feel… free," She replied simply.

"But you're completely mortal!" Paige exclaimed, "Doesn't it bother you that you cast spells anymore?"

"No," She replied with a grin, "I'm completely off the radar, away from demons. Free to live a life with my family,"

"Complete bliss, huh?" Paige pondered over the thought, "What's that like?"

* * *

Pamela sighed as she finally gave up on looking in the book. The only demon she had found was one that her family had already vanquished by the name of Shax, so she ruled him out. The witch continued to look out into the dark night sky as she put the Book of Shadows down on the table and stood up.

"I will find you…" She growled to herself as she scanned the attic.

A chilling yet familiar wind blew through the attic. Pamela narrowed her eyes as she felt the cold presence of the demon that had attacked her in the coffee shop. She turned around to face the grey demon courageously, staring him straight in the eye and preparing to fight.

"Powers…?" The demon smirked cockily.

Pamela let out a hollow laugh, "I don't need my powers to deal with you. I'm not my mother," She smirked back, now recognizing that this was the demon that her aunts had made out to be a vile, brutal creature, but to Pamela he seemed to be nothing more than another demon.

Shax laughed when released a ball of wind at the teen, who had decided to show off her martial arts skills by doing a back flip, making sure the attack zipped right above her and smashed the window. Pamela flipped back to her feet, still wearing a confident smile on her face.

"You know.." She began as she walked towards him, "I should really thank you," Pamela proceeded to spin her body around on her left foot, raising her other leg and delivering a lethal kick to the demon's side, "I wouldn't know all these moves if I had grown up with a mother. You'd be amazed at how…" She threw a punch, "Many…" Another punch, "Hobos…" Another punch, "Know…" A roundhouse kick, "Martial arts!" She jumped up and threw both her feet at Shax's chest, making her fall to the ground in the process, but she quickly regained her feet with a backward roll.

Pamela was angered by the demon still laughing at her as he got back up; he made the wind stronger in the room, "Mother…" He moaned out, "Weak…" He grinned at her.

The Halliwell's eyes widened. She may not get along with her mother, but she wasn't going to let a demon trash her either. That was when Pamela Walker, began Pamela Halliwell for a brief moment. She lost her self control and jutted out her arm out, making the assassin fly against the wall and hit it hard; Pamela then moved her arm in a circular motion behind her, sending the demon soaring across the room and be pinned to the floor.

"My mother was a lot of things…" She growled as she kept Shax telekinetically pinned to the ground while picking up Apollo's Axe with the other, ignoring the immense weight the weapon had, "But she was never…!" Pamela brought the axe down on the demon's neck, slicing his head clean off, "Weak…"

"Pam?" Piper's voice came from the attic stairs as she and Emma climbed up, "Are you- OH MY GOD!" She screamed as she put her hands over her mouth, suppressing the urge to vomit.

"Pamela…" Emma said with wide eyes and a fearful look, "What happened?"

Pamela stood facing the woman with her hair covering half her face, her clothes and her face covered with blood spatters from the vanquish. The axe was in her left hand, she held it effortlessly, which Emma knew was a great feat for anyone other than the Earth Elemental.

Pamela giggled as she raised her right arm, giggling manically as she revealed that she was holding Shax's head from his long grey hair, the demon's face contorted into one that knew this was the end.

"The winds of change are a'blowin, girls!" She continued to giggle as Shax's head burst into flames, illuminating her manic features as his head and body disappeared in a flurry of flames…

* * *

A bright flash lit up the Nameless One's chamber as the Seer appeared, a grin could be seen on the bottom half of her face that wasn't concealed. She walked towards the demon in a leather jacket bowed with a smirk.

"I'm afraid your assassin was vanquished," She said, trying to sound sincere.

"And you wouldn't have anything to do with that, would you?" He said with his hands clasped.

"I might have given the girl a little bit of an adrenaline charge. But trust me, as my charm continues to accelerate, she will be more of a threat to her family than to us, which will give me a prime chance to put my plan into action,"

He sighed and let his hands drop, "How many of my men do you need?"

"Five." She replied instantly, obviously having thought this through, "That should be more than enough to take on the elemental and the empath and it certainly won't make the number of your army dwindle,"

The Nameless One raised her hand to a blank space in the room, she swirled his hand around in the air and a blue light made five of his warriors appear. They were just liked the ones Brennan and Pamela had fought when the Nameless One was first released, skinless, cloaked, and extremely powerful.

"Thank you," She bowed again before turning to her new soldiers, "Let's go boys!" She ordered, making them and herself vanish in a flash.

The demon sat silently for a while, rubbing his hands together in thought before repeating the swirling motion with his hands and making another being appear in a blue flash. In his royal clothes, and an armour plate with three holes in the middle where his lethal blow had been struck, General Kahn stood!

"You…" The man started, but the demon put up his hand.

"Although I'm touched that you remember me, I have a proposition for you."

Kahn scoffed, "The last time you made me a proposition, I felt the pointy prongs of Poseidon's damn trident! Why should I trust you?"

"I seem to recall helping to turn Undine's troops against her so you could wage war on her and take control of Atlantis. Even from the confines of that damn box I was trapped in…" He growled when he thought of his imprisonment, "Here's the deal Kahn, this new life I've got you expires in a year. If you do what I say, then I'll make you go to the good place instead of going back to…" He looked at the floor, "Down there…"

Kahn seemed intrigued, "You can really do that?"

"Oh yeah," The Nameless One smirked, "But…" He got up and led Kahn towards a wall in the room, "You need to do one thing for me first," They walked through the incorporeal wall and were immediately met with the shouts of what seemed like a thousand demons.

Kahn looked over the cliff and gasped. The gorge was filled with the same type of demon that had been given to the Seer; they were all holding weapons and squabbling over fires. There seemed to be a lot more than two thousand demons in the pit, and when they all looked up and their master, all of them immediately fell silent and bowed towards the cliff.

"So..." The Nameless One put a hand on Kahn's shoulder, "Can you lead this army?"

* * *

**NEXT TIME:** The Seer's plan is underway; Emma and Grant shall face death in every second of this chapter. There shall be a great loss, but also great joy. Aidan begins to realize that he truly loves the mother of his children. Pamela keeps having outbursts of violence, which leads Piper to believe that she was mentally scarred by vanquishing Shax. Paige receives one of her powers back while Phoebe meets with one of the greatest forces of good in an attempt to get her basic Wiccan abilities back when revenge is needed against the Seer in true Power of Three fashion!

Chapter 26 **"Never Saw It Coming…"** should be up soon!

**PS:** This fic is spread over two years, so about a year has passed since the started. Pamela is about to start her senior year at Magic School, Connor's one year old etc…

**PSS:** I've recently began to write a new fic called "Burdens Of Power" it's a Smallville fic and Lana centered, so if any of you are in to Smallville, look out for it!


	26. Never Saw It Coming

_I'm really sorry! But I don't have time to do replies at the moment! But I will next chapter!_

**Never Saw It Coming…**

Pamela swung another kick at the punching bag that hung from the basement ceiling; she let out a feral like roar as she threw her fist towards the leather training apparatus. Another lethal spin kick was enough for some of the plaster to fall from the ceiling and as Pamela landed the final hook, the bag was ripped from the ceiling and it flew across the room.

The clomping of heels on the basement steps attracted the teen's attention, but she didn't turn around. Piper placed both her hands on the rails as she walked down the stairs, she frowned at her niece and folding her arms.

"Pam, you've been down here for three hours. Come up and… why aren't you using the training bandages?" Piper questioned, picking up a roll of fabric that you were supposed to put around your hands before laying into a punching bag.

Pamela looked down at her knuckles; they were extremely bruised and bleeding furiously. She clenched her fists and walked over to the bottle of water she had on the table, "Fight through the pain. What good will we be in a demon fight if we can't take a beating now and again?"

"Well, that's all well and good, but you're not the one who has to pay to get that bag put up again!" Piper snapped, now putting her hands on her hips.

There was a clatter as Pamela suddenly threw her bottle against the wall, making water seep out from the top and cover the floor. She spiraled around and strode towards her aunt, intimidating Piper slightly.

"Nobody…" She growled, "Tells me what to do," She shoved Piper out of her way, making her fall to the floor as she climbed the stairs, rubbing her injured knuckles on the way.

* * *

Emma looked up into the meek sky through the window of the magic store. She was sitting at a stool in front of potion ingredients. The empath was a regular here, especially late at night, so the owner often let her take her time when looking through the different ingredients. She hadn't been able to concentrate all day, she just felt that something big was about to happen, and not a good thing.

"Alright," Paige began, moving towards her best friend, "I got a new scrying crystal and…" She pulled out a trinket from the paper beg she held, "A lucky charm," The charm was a circular shaped piece of stained glass which had the many colours of the rainbow smearing through its surface.

"I didn't think that you would be one to get a lucky charm." Emma replied, not looking up from the potion ingredients.

"Well, it's the only thing that caught my eye in this store. Call me crazy, but when my best friend calls me at eleven at night to go out; my mind doesn't automatically jump to sorting through chicken feet. Oh, no offence," Paige gave a weak smile to the owner, who had just given her a dirty look.

"Aren't chicken feet supposed to be good luck?" The psionic smirked.

Paige snorted and sat down on the stool on the opposite side of the table, "That would be rabbit feet." They sat in silence as Emma looked for ingredients like she was rummaging through a bargain bin, "Emma, what's up with you?" The witchlighter cocked her head, sensing a shift in Emma's behaviour.

"I just… have this really bad feeling that something is happening…" She pointed to the ground, "Down there. Something big, and it's something we won't be able to stop."

"You got all that from telempathy?" Paige raised an eyebrow.

"No… it's just something you pick up after having psychic powers for so long," Her friend gave her a confused look, "Ugh! I need to talk to Phoebe about this."

"Well, you might want to wait until tomorrow. She's probably not as enthusiastic about late night potion ingredient shopping," Paige advised.

Emma sighed and looked out the window again, but she jumped and let out a yelp when she saw a gaunt man with grey hair down to his shoulders standing on the other side of the street. The man put his hands in the pockets of his black jacket and smirked as the psionic.

"Em? What's the matter?" Paige frowned, looking out the window.

Emma turned to address her, "Do you see that…" She look back to find that the man was gone, "Man…" She finished her sentence with a strange expression.

"Um… honey, there's no one there…" The witchlighter replied timidly.

Emma looked around the store with wide eyes, scanning every inch of the room. Everything seemed to be in place; she knew what she had seen and knew that the man was real. She suddenly turned to Paige and grabbed her wrist, "Where did you find that lucky charm?"

The first omen.

* * *

Aidan walked along another beautifully crafted hallway of the Atlantian Palace. He put his hands the back pockets of his jeans as he smiled and nodded at one of the many staff who worked at the castle. The elemental hated being waited on, but apparently it was unfitting of a king to wash his own clothes. It was just like when he was a child, maybe if he hadn't been coddled so much, he would have been able to defeat Kahn without his mother's sacrifice.

"Your Majesty!" A voice suddenly called from behind him. Aidan smiled as his advisor Gerald walked towards him. Gerald was in his late fifty's and had served the royal family all his life. His garments reeked of the grandeur of his position and the pure white hair in his beard and the few hairs that now inhabited his head made him look even more posh.

"Gerald, you shouldn't walk like that. You need to look after your health," Aidan turned to walk away but Gerald began to talk.

"Your Majesty, might I ask why you are wearing civilians clothes from the outside world?" He inquired politely as he could.

"Because I'm more comfortable in jeans and a t-shirt than the royal armour and cape. Is my dress sense the only reason you caught my attention or is there another reason?"

The advisor's mouth opened and closed a few times, "Some of the kitchen staff have been sharing rumours and saying that you plan on bringing your children here. I beg you, are these true?"

"Yes that is true. I'm on my way to collect them right now. I would like my schedule cleared for the next two days as my time will be spent with my daughters," He turned to leave again, but Gerald continued.

"The people have also heard of these fables. They are appalled at the thought of Undine's heir mating with a witch, even more disgusted that you had children with a commoner from the outside, rather than someone more suited to your political status,"

Aidan took a minute to understand what he was saying before clenching his fists, "How dare you imply that _my_ children are not worthy of roaming these halls…" He growled, "And the fact that you think that Paige is-,"

"A mere witch from the outside who stole your heart in a time where you thought you were normal? If that is what you were about to say, than you are correct in your judgment,"

Aidan felt like hitting the old man. He stepped forwards so he was leering over Gerald, his voice now dark and menacing, "If you _ever_ have the courage to accuse my daughter's and their mother of being below me, then I will make sure that you spend the short time you have left roaming the Royal Tunnels until your dying day… understand?" The petrified man nodded vigorously, "Good."

The elemental stormed off, heading towards the teleporting platform that took him to the outside world. He thought about how he had reacted when he heard Gerald bad mouth Paige, it had sent him into a raging fit in his mind and he had threatened to condemn a man to death, over words! Aidan smiled to himself and shook his head, laughing while doing so.

Love makes you do the craziest things.

* * *

Grant quickly jogged through the alleyway, pushing up his sleeve so he could see what the time was. He running late for his lunchtime meeting already and if this really was a make or break situation. Making sure no one was looking; sand began to consume him from his feet, ready to transport him to his destination until something hit him from behind and sent the elemental flying across the alley.

"What the…" Grant threw his head up from the ground, seeing five cloaked demons with no skin standing there, one had its hand outstretched as if it had just thrown something. "I'm already late as it is…" He cursed quietly, standing up and straightening out his smart looking suit.

One of the creatures charged at him, but retaliated by throwing out a ball of orange energy, it struck the demon in chest, sending him sailing back to his comrades and knocking them down as he fell from the sky with a burn in his cloak. Realizing that his usual would not be good enough, the dark haired man threw out both his hands. The ground began to crack as thick ivy green vines crept from the surface; they constricted the five attackers and reduced them to grunting and struggling for their lives.

Grant smirked as he raised his arms. Hundreds of tiny orange-red lights gathered around him before flying at the five demons, smacking them again and again with a barrage of geokinetic energy.

One of the demons grunted loudly as he put one of the vines around his wrist in the path of one of the lights. The vine was severed immediately and gave the evil being just enough time to pull an athame from his belt and throw it at Grant before they were all vanquished in a fiery explosion of blue sparks.

Grant yelled in pain as the dagger pierced his side. Blood seeped from the wound and trickled down his white shirt. The elemental grimaced as he pulled the weapon out of his chest, staring at it then growing wide eyed as the athame disappeared in a blood red glow.

Wincing again from the pain of his drawing death, Grant wisely disappeared in a burst of sand, knowing immediately where he going.

Emma.

* * *

Phoebe accompanied her psionic friend as she flipped through the Book of Shadows. The Halliwell shot a grin at her son, who was crawling on the floor playing with his little cousins. A grunt and a sigh signified Emma's frustration at the situation; Phoebe gave her a sympathetic nod and rubbed her back, having been in many similar situations.

"I know it's pissing you off. I may not have my powers but I can still sense certain things." She looked at Emma's hard expression, "Why are you getting so worked up about this?"

She let out a sigh and ran a hand through her red hair, deciding to confide in the fellow empath, "Have you ever felt as if… the powers are trying to tell you something?" She pulled a nervous face.

Phoebe raised an eyebrow, "Actually, yeah. On the night before Connor was born, I felt as if something was trying to tell me something. It's like… empathic constipation," Emma grimaced at the brunette's description, "Well, it's true isn't it?"

"Yeah, I guess. And I've just had this bad feeling since I woke up yesterday."

"A bad feeling?" Phoebe's curiosity was intrigued.

"Yeah… something big is going to go down."

She stepped forward from Emma and paced the room a little, "When is this going to happen?"

"Soon. Really soon."

"Alright, so everything should be in the diaper bag…" Paige's voice said as she walked in with Aidan carrying a heavy looking bag, "If there's a problem, I don't want one of your many nannys in your castle looking after them. If you can't handle whatever it is, then you bring them back, I don't want my kids to spoiled," She warned as she picked up Melinda and Emma together.

"_Our_ kids," He corrected, "Will be taken care of by me. No one else will lay finger on them; I'm not going to let you down, Paige,"

The witchlighter blinked a few times. She hadn't expected an answer like that, "That's… uh… good to know." She put the twins in the stroller and rolled it over to Aidan, "Take good care of them," Paige knelt down and smiled at her children before looking at her ex again.

The sound of gushing sand broke the brief silence as a tornado of sand appeared slowly, as if it was strained. Grant formed inside it and immediately collapsed to the floor, blood still seeping from his heart. It was a wonder he had had enough energy to transport himself here.

"Grant!" Emma yelled, almost knocking over the Book of Shadows as she ran to him, dropping to her knees and managing to cradle his head before he lost consciousness.

"Aidan. Do something." Paige pleaded.

The water elemental complied and quickly knelt down beside his friend, releasing a cooling blue glow from his hand and healing the piercing wound in Grant's heart. He awoke with a start and Emma launched herself into his arms.

"Are you okay?" Grant asked, accepting Emma's help of getting him to his feet.

She snorted, "You've been stabbed in the heart and worried about me," She latched onto him again, "You idiot." She whispered lovingly into his chest.

Emma pulled away and tugged slightly at the multi-coloured glass charm around her neck, silently thanking it for its luck and glad that she had bought it the night before. However, she pulled on it too hard one time and it fell from her neck, Emma hadn't been expecting it to happen so the good luck charm crashed to the floor, smashing into thousands of tiny pieces.

"We better get you away from that nasty glass…" Phoebe cooed in a baby voice as she picked up Connor, who pointed at the glass and had one beady blue eye staring at it through his thick messy hair.

Emma knelt down and carefully put her hand down on the floor, waving it slightly and scattering the glass. She winced when a stray shard sliced the tip of her finger. The psionic just sat there, staring at the blood crawling down her finger.

The second omen.

* * *

The Seer ran a finger along the flat side of the athame, wiping a line of blood from the blade and inspecting it with her unseen eyes. She brought the dagger to her nose and sniffed the crimson liquid that covered it, a smirk playing on her lips when her suspicions were confirmed. Her concentration was broke when the Nameless One suddenly flamed into her chamber; he spun around and gave her a blank stare as he a saw the large cauldron bubbling away next to her.

"My warriors are dead." He growled.

"The elemental was a lot more powerful than an anticipated. They were all vanquished in the process of getting blood from his heart," She held up the athame, "But there are now two elementals at the Manor and the chances of Emma leaving now are slim."

"Leave the elementals to me," He warned, "Just continue with the plan and get the empath's blood,"

'Then I need more warriors." She demanded, stepping back as advanced on her.

"You miscalculated your abilities. What kind of Seer can't gauge power?"

"The kind that was severely pressured into this plan. I didn't have much time to prepare, as you wanted this almost immediately," She retorted.

The Nameless One came even closer to her; she could feel his breath on her face, "Fix your own mess. I will get the elementals out of the way," He flamed out after that, leaving the female demon officially warned.

* * *

Phoebe flipped her cell phone shut and turned to her family, "Brennan will be here in a couple of minutes."

Leo nodded from the sofa, "Good. Something tells me we'll need all hands on deck for this one,"

"Why would you say something like that?" Emma stared at him wide eyed, moving closer to Grant and slipping her arm around his back.

"Because apparently there's been a surge in demonic activity lately. Demons are attacking a lot more of my friends charges these days and the Elders think it's something to do with the Nameless One,"

Paige rolled her eyes as she stirred a potion in the centre of the attic, "Figures this activity would have something to do with us…"

"Well, it's not really us. They went after Grant," Piper reasoned.

"Who is connected to Emma, who is connected to us…" Phoebe shot back.

"Speaking of connections, shouldn't Pamela be putting her hands on deck along with us?" The youngest Charmed One inquired to the entire room.

Piper, Leo and Emma shared a worried glance. They did live with the teen after all and they had noticed a dramatic shift in her attitude and temperament since her vanquish,

"Um… Let's just leave her out of this one," Leo advised, looking Paige in a way in which she knew to drop it.

"So, what's the potion for?" Piper walked towards her youngest sister.

She sighed, "I'm hoping it's for vanquishing the leech demons,"

"Add some more powdered dragon scale," Emma chipped in, moving towards the table.

"You're the boss!" Paige replied enthusiastically, dipping her thumb and index finger into the bowl of blue dust, taking a pinch of the powder and dropping it into the pot, causing a loud bang as a mushroom of smoke billowed from the mixture.

"Leech demons?" Piper frowned.

"Yeah," Emma replied, turning around the open Book of Shadows, "They're the demons that attacked Grant. Apparently they get their power by draining a magical beings essence, hence the name. But that's not the only trick, energy ball throwing, expert fighters, and an unbelievably good aim with athames,"

"Uh… are you sure you guys want me around?" Phoebe asked timidly, "I mean, I'm not even a witch right now."

"But that doesn't take away your instincts." Leo argued, "Besides, you're a skilled kick boxer and you used to fight demons long before you received an active power."

"Yeah, I remember the injuries of an off-centre roundhouse kick," She winced at the thought.

A puddle of water began to creep upwards into the form of a person. Aidan appeared as the water splashed away, he nodded to Piper, "All five kids present and accounted for in Magic School,"

"Thanks," She droned, beginning to fill the vials with the lime green substance Paige had concocted.

Without any warning, ten leech demons shimmered into the room, accompanied by the Seer in a flash of light and the Nameless One, who flamed in. The female demons first move was to raise her arm swiftly; an athame flew from her sleeve and stabbed Emma in the heart. The psionic's face contorted into one of sheer pain before she fell to the ground, dying.

"No!" Grant bellowed, instantly kneeling down and preparing to heal his love.

"I don't think so…" The Nameless One smirked, he made a rough hand gesture at both Aidan and Grant, the two were swallowed by flames and the fire headed downwards, taking both elementals with it. The uber-powerful demon flamed out afterwards.

"I'll get her!" Leo shouted, scrambling across the room and kneeling down to heal Emma's quickly dissipating life force.

Phoebe whipped her head around to her sisters; it was just them left to fight the mystery demon and the ten leech demon. Instantly springing into action, the middle sister ran across the area, doing a cartwheel and kicking the Seer as her hands balanced her body before completing the move.

The female demon tumbled to the ground, the hood that covered her face falling from her head as she put her hands out of stop the descent from being anymore painful. Dark red hair could be seen as the Seer turned around to face Phoebe, a pale complexion and the raging eyes, it was Katrina!

"You!" Phoebe spat, about to bring her foot down on the woman's face.

"Argh! That bitch is mine!" Paige screamed, running towards the downed redhead and not noticing one of the leech demons hurl an energy ball towards her.

"Paige!" Piper shouted.

The youngest turned around just in time to cringe and accept her fate, until blue and white lights covered her, making the witchlighter disappear and avoid the energy ball. Paige reappeared in the same fashion, shocked at what she had just done.

"She orbed…" Phoebe uttered breathlessly.

Piper rolled her eyes, "Figures she'd be the first to get a power back…" She barely got the comment out as she quickly had to take a breath and mass out. Orange lines spread across Piper's body as the energy ball the leech demon threw bounced off her chest and flew back at the attacker, blasting him in the stomach and vanquishing him.

Leo stood up strongly as he finished healing Emma, throwing out both his hands and sending extreme blasts of lightning towards the creatures, he lit up the room with his attack while vanquishing three of them and turning them into piles of smoldering ash.

Emma got up, immediately noticing that Grant was nowhere to be seen. She narrowed her eyes and got up firing a psionic blast at a leech demon, blasting him back into some of his comrades and knocking them to the floor. The psionic then sensed the potion pot behind her and used her psychokinesis to send the bowl full of vanquishing potion into the pile. The four demons screamed in pain as an entire cauldron of vanquishing potion vaporized them, causing a large burn mark on the floor and a large mound of ash in the centre.

"You have some nerve…" Paige growled as she advanced on Katrina. One of the two remaining leech demons conjured an energy ball, but Piper was quicker and she blew him up.

Katrina chuckled, "Oh please, you knew something was off the first second I cam into your life. It's amazing how a little power of suggestion can convince an entire kingdom that you're arranged to marry their king,"

"Oh, you are _so_ getting vanquished. Skank!" Paige suddenly yelled, throwing out her arm. Katrina was enveloped by orbs and thrown across the room, but she managed to skillfully correct her position and throw off her cloak at the same time, smirking as she landed.

"I'm so glad you found out. That cloak was becoming stuffy," She waved the athame in the air; it was covered in the blood from Emma's heart, "Doesn't matter if you found out anyway. I've got what I need,"

"Paige! The dagger!" Piper ordered, wanting her baby sister to orb the weapon away.

She nodded vigorously in response and outstretched her hand, preparing to call for the object. But before she could, Katrina vanished in a flash of light.

The final leech demon began to shimmer out, until high powered voltage hit him in the back. The creature's body shook violently before falling to the floor in a heap, knocked out. Brennan stood in the doorway, his hands outstretched, signifying he had been responsible.

"Electro crystals, circle!" Paige ordered and gestured tiredly. Five royal blue crystals orbed out of their box in a drawer and orbed back in, surrounding the demon and subjecting him to damaging amount of voltage as lightning pillars flew from the crystals.

Emma walked forwards, a cold expression on her face, "Let the interrogation begin…"

The third and final omen.

* * *

Katrina transported herself into her chambers in the underworld. She stood on the spot, waiting for the final henchman to appear, but after a while, she figured the Charmed Ones had got to him. The redhead smirked at the athame covered in Emma's blood before moving towards the pedestal next to a bubbling over cauldron and picking up the athame with Grant's blood.

"If I can't have Aidan's children, I'll make one for myself…" She said to herself.

Katrina stared into the glowing mixture in the giant cauldron. Steam and smoke billowed from it and licked the edges. She raised both the daggers above the potion, a look of utter concentration on her face as she did so.

"The final ingredient… Blood from the hearts of the parents…"

She dropped the athames in simultaneously and stepped back, watching the glow become even brighter and a hissing sound beginning to start as the whole area was filled with smoke. There was an earth shattering boom and Katrina was sent back from the force of the explosion. She picked herself up quickly, eager to see if her ritual had worked and walking through the large cloud of smoke that covered the area. She felt around for the edge of the cauldron, grinning when she heard the slightest whimper coming from the bottom of the pot. The smoke finally cleared. Katrina gasped and grinned evilly as she looked down at what she had created.

In the bottom of the cauldron, sucking on her thumb, was a baby girl.

* * *

Emma's hard expression was lit up by the flashing electricity what ran through the leech demon, her hair blowing back slightly from the force of the torture. Paige had a similar look on her face, smirking slightly as she watched the demon writhe in agony. The psionic grabbed one of the crystals and pulled it away, stopping the voltage.

"Where are Grant and Aidan?" She demanded.

The demon took deep breathes, "I… don't… know…" He whispered through a cracked voice.

"Not good enough." Emma growled, putting the crystal and continuing to torture the demon.

* * *

Phoebe looked up the stairs as she heard the demon scream in pain yet again. She had come down to the dining room so she could concentrate and write a spell that would vanquish Katrina. The middle sister run a hand through her hair and went back to writing on the pad. Brennan walked into the room from the kitchen, he walked behind his wife, gently massaging her shoulder and kissing the top of her head. Phoebe smiled and leant her head back into his abdomen.

"What are you doing?" Brennan frowned, knowing that Phoebe shouldn't be writing spells she couldn't cast.

"Writing a Power of Three spell," She replied simply, narrowing her eyes at the verse on the paper then scrubbing out part of it with an eraser.

"Uh… But honey, the Power of Three doesn't really exist right now. Why don't we just remake the potion Emma threw at the leech demons? It seemed powerful enough to wipe out half the attic,"

Phoebe shook her head, "No, if we were going to make a potion, we would need her flesh, not to mention the exact amount and type of ingredients. Vanquishing potions for upper level demons are tricky; a spell is simpler and usually a little more powerful,"

"But how are you going to execute it? You're mortal right now, a kick ass mortal, but still…"

"I know!" She snapped, whipping her head around and up to look at him, "I know… But when I feel useless like this, I find it helps to write through the pain, even if it's pointless." Her eyes widened as she had a brainwave, "Hey, I know. Maybe I could write the spell in Latin, it's the language magic originally stems from after all,"

Phoebe readied her pencil and began to write, but a wind suddenly blew around the room and a blinding light forced Brennan to cover his eyes. He stepped back a little, looking though his fingers to see if Phoebe was all right. The flash ended abruptly, and when it did, Phoebe was gone.

* * *

"What the hell…?" Phoebe muttered to herself as she looked around her surroundings. All the Hallliwell could see around her was… white. The room was walking through was spotless, the beams at the top where pretty much the same, except from the beautiful night sky that shone above her, the stars glittered and were easier on the eyes than the harsh white colour. Phoebe let out a gasp of amazement when a large shooting star spread across the sky, zooming away from her view as quickly as it had came.

"Hello, Phoebe," A young girl's voice said. Phoebe spiraled around to see a child standing in front of her, a blank expression on her face as deep hazel eyes stared right into the woman's soul.

"Who are you? What are you? Where are we?" Phoebe suddenly blurted out.

"Doesn't matter, doesn't matter, doesn't matter," The child grinned in a cheeky way, but the voice and words that she spoke suggested that was girl wasn't the being's true form.

"Okay, then can you tell me why I'm here," The Halliwell sister ventured out slowly.

The girl nodded, "Now that _does_ matter. You are here to regain your basic powers as a witch."

This piqued Phoebe's curiosity, "Basic?"

"Your power to cast spells, return the magic to your blood so that you be Charmed once more,"

"But the Tribunal said-," She was cut off by a hollow giggle.

"Heh… The Tribunal are mere puppets of destiny, mindlessly followed orders from those angels…" Her gaze dropped to the floor for an instant, "Do you believe in destiny, Phoebe?"

She shook her head, "Destiny fluctuates, changing with every decision we make, how can something so fragile and temperamental rule our lives? Our thoughts and decisions control destiny, not the other way around,"

The young child smirked, "Insightful. And very fitting of someone who has been weighed down by their empathic and telepathic abilities. It also means that you can receive your powers from me, if you can meet me halfway of course,"

Phoebe frowned, then narrowed her eyes as she realized what was going on, "Is this a 'scratch each others backs' kind of situation?"

The girl merely smiled.

* * *

"What do you mean she's gone?" Piper exclaimed at her brother in law, who held his hands up in defense.

"I don't know! We were sitting there talking and she suddenly disappeared in a flash of light! Where were you guys when this was going down?" He shot back.

Piper whipped around and glanced at the burnt out hole in the middle of the attic, where Emma and Paige had just finished off the leech demon. He had given them a location in the underworld of where Grant and Aidan were being held, they had been ready to go until Phoebe disappeared, "I was here making sure those two didn't go overboard with the electro crystals!"

"Got the info, didn't we?" Paige pointed out.

"Yeah, barely!" The eldest snapped.

"It doesn't matter! We have a location so what are we waiting for?" Emma fumed, glowering at everyone in the room.

"Alright everyone, just calm down! I'm sure Phoebe will be back in-," Leo was cut off by a flash of light making Phoebe return with a piece of paper in her hand. Everyone turned to Leo as if he was crazy; he just shrugged it off, "See?"

"Where were you?" Piper stared at her younger sister, but she waved it away with her hand.

"We don't have time! All you need to know is that I have the Katrina vanquishing spell and that I'm a witch again," Piper gaped at her, "I said we don't have time! Let's go!"

Deciding that time was precious at this moment, the group huddled together in the center of the room. Emma gripped Phoebe's wrist, Paige put her hand on Brennan's shoulder and Leo took his wife's hand. Each of them took deep breaths before orbing out, Emma hesitated before transporting her and Phoebe in a train of pink orbs.

* * *

"Aidan! C'mon man, wake up!"

Aidan groaned as he came to, immediately trying to move his limbs, but soon realizing he was trapped in shackles that were blocking his powers. He couldn't bring himself to open his eyes, to look at his beaten and bleeding friend across from him, who was in the same position.

"Grant…? What happened?" He whispered.

"Dude, do me a favour and open your eyes," His tone sounded serious.

Sighing, the water elemental opened his eyes, only seeing black, but he figured it was just because he had regained consciousness, but as a couple of seconds went on, the darkness didn't fade and sight of the objects around him never came.

"I… I can't see," Aidan croaked.

His other senses were beginning to take over for his loss of sight, as he heard the sorrow and pity in Grant's voice, "The bastard had a grimlock come in after you passed out, and it stole your sight,"

Before he could answer, Aidan heard the roar of fire and the heat on his face as the Nameless One flamed in, he heard Grant pull at his shackles defiantly, but he then heard the a gurgle and a whimper from… a baby?

"Why did you bring the child here? Bringing her to her father is only going to make things harder for her to accept us," A voice said.

Aidan's blind eyes widened, "Katrina?"

He heard her laugh, "Wow, I guess it's not just my looks that are memorable. How are you with no eyesight?" Although he couldn't see it, Aidan knew she was smirking.

"Argh! What have you done with my kids?" He shouted, shaking at his shackles violently.

This time he heard the Nameless One chuckle, "Your kids? Oh, don't worry, the baby Olsen twins are safe. It's your friend's baby we've got,"

"W-What?" He heard Grant breathe.

"Ever wonder why we retreated as soon as we had you or your girlfriend's blood? That was all we needed to create a powerful warrior of evil. Can't you see it? She has your eyes and the empath's hair,"

He head Grant gulp, "My… baby…?" He whispered out.

"Yes, too bad you won't be around for her…" The Nameless One growled.

The sliding of the athame being drawn from the belt…

The fast pace of running against the stone floor…

The slick sound of the dagger piercing Grant's neck…

The scream… It would be a scream that Aidan knew he would never forget the sound of. The pain, the sadness, the anger, all the feelings you feel when both your life and daughter were taken from you, Aidan would always remember that sound.

The sound of a murdered father.

* * *

The six magical beings lit up the chamber of where Aidan and Grant were being held. Emma let out a blood curling scream when she saw her love slumped against a wall, dead. Paige took a brief moment to register the horror and sorrow she felt before noticing Aidan was in a similar situation, but a glimmer of hope appeared when she saw his chest rising and falling slowly. Leo bent down wordlessly and healed the gushing wound in his abdomen. He came to life with a splutter and a gasp, instantly met with the feeling of Paige's arms wrapped around his neck and the fragrance of her hair as she hugged him.

Brennan and Phoebe quickly scanned the area with their eyes, the instincts that being in Mutant X had taught them. When they were convinced the place was secure they moved towards Emma's who held onto Grant's head tightly, begging him to wake up, and begging herself to wake up and realize this was just a horrible dream.

Piper had been drawn to a quiet sound coming from the dark corner of the room, she frowned as she approached, preparing to blow any attacker by raising her hands in front of her body. The witch gasped when she saw a small baby girl with fiery red hair, bundled up in a crimson red blanket and sleeping peacefully, eliciting little whimpers as she slumbered. Piper silently picked up the bundle, careful not to wake the sleeping child as she moved towards the rest of her family to comfort Emma.

As she approached, she saw Paige down on her knees, rubbing Emma's back and crying along with her as she realized that this was the second earth elemental to die since the four being had come into contact with the Charmed Ones. Aidan was being supported by Brennan, he was still looking around in a vain hope of his sight returning, but his desire never came to pass as he lent on his friend, still weak from the torture.

Emma's red tear stained eyes widened as Grant's body suddenly dissolved into sand, the grainy substance slipping through her fingers coldly as the Earth Elemental moved on to the next life. But was some reason, the psionic was not completely shatter, for she sensed a presence in the room, one that she had never felt more connected to in her entire life. Looking up, she noticed the red haired baby sleeping in Piper's arms. Emma stood up and held out her arms to her friend, Piper complied with a weak smile, now realizing that there could have been only one reason that the Seer wanted Grant and Emma's blood. A small smile appeared on the girl's sleeping face as she was passed to her mother, Emma smile slightly and stroked the baby's face softly with the back of her hand. She faced all of her friends, taking a deep breath before announcing her daughter's name.

"Lorna…"

* * *

**NEXT TIME:** With the Fire and Earth Elementals both dead, the world is subjected to harsh cold snow storms, hurricanes and torrential rain storms. To make matters worse, the group discovers that Pamela has run away, Brennan does some digging and finds out that his niece once suffered from schizophrenia. With Aidan blind, it's up to Skye, along with the help of Leo and Phoebe, to find the remaining two elementals. Emma begins to cope with baby Lorna, while not realizing that there is a darklighter planting the seeds of doubt in her mind.

Chapter 27 **"?"** should be up soon!

**PS:** This is the start of the story taking a darker turn, but no matter how tough it gets for my characters, please bear with me as I can assure a happy ending!


	27. The Bay After Tomorrow

_Sorry you guys, I know I promised Brennan and darklighter stuff in the preview, but there was no place for it. I'll probably put it into the next chapter though!_

_Princess Pinky_ – Lol, yeah, that chapter had a lot of surprises in it! I've been planning it for a while now so I found it quite easy to write. Thanks, I'm trying to recreate 'sisterly' moments like that now and again. I hope you like this chapter, because I'm quite proud of it!

_Phoebe turner_ – You'll have to wait and find out! Thanks for the review!

_Chyp_ – Yeah, I like happy endings too, but things will get darker before they get brighter. Thanks for the review!

_Prince Halliwell_ – Heh… No, I don't have something against happy families (if there is such a thing) I just like my angst. Lorna's about three months old, even though she's only been alive for a week! One of her powers is revealed. Thanks for reviewing!

_Ravenix_ – I'm glad you liked it all! Thanks!

_Unique deflection_ – Yes, you can use the elemental idea, just be sure to credit me lol! I'm glad you liked all of it! You'll need to wait and see about Emma and Lorna!

_Kendallpaigecharity_ – Glad you liked it! Aw… I'll miss your reviews! I hope you enjoy your vacation!

_Beki-13_ – Thanks for reading! And you'll see about Emma!

_Anianka_ – There's a reason why I killed off Grant, it's got something to do with the Piper/Leo plot, if you figure it out, don't tell anyone lol! Ah yes… we all know that the future is a twisted reality, who says Lorna's even alive? Well, I do, I though I'd just say that an ass. And I'm this story will get very sad before things perk up, But stick with me!

_Pangea_ – Thanks! If you think this was good, wait until the last 3 chapters! They're going to blow you away! And the happy ending is a LONG way away, but it will happen!

_Alexa_ – You know, I'm so glad that I was able to create someone for Paige that everyone seems to love! You'll need to wait and see how things turn out!

**The Bay After Tomorrow**

Cassandra Hughes let out a loud groan as she whipped off her sleeping mask and looked at her vibrating cell phone on her nightstand in her room. The telekinetic mutant picked up the cell and flipped it open, running a hand through her tousled blonde hair before responding with a groggy "Hello?"

"Cass… I… talk… you…" The signal was breaking up, but Cassy recognized the voice instantly, her heart beginning to pound a little faster.

"Pam? Where are you?" She hissed hurriedly into the phone, flinching when a large rumble of thunder was released over Sanctuary, it was like a bomb going off. Deciding that Pamela probably wouldn't stay on the phone for long, the telekinetic flew out of bed and quickly paced out of her room, opening the door with her powers to save time.

"They're… me…." The eighteen year old's crackled voice said.

"Pam, listen to me. You have to stay on the line for at least thirty seconds," She took the phone away from her face, "JESSE!" Cassy yelled at the top of her voice before she started typing furiously in one of the many keyboards in the cave. The lights suddenly flicked on in the main area, they were fitted with censors to turn on when activity was sensed on the computers.

"In… shadows… marshmallow…" Her voice came again.

The blonde's eyes widened, knowing what Pamela had just said, "Pamela! Listen to me! The marshmallow men aren't after you!" She rolled her eyes when she realized how stupid that sounded.

"Why are you yelling my name and talking about marshmallow men?" A bleary eyed Jesse asked, walking out of his room in only a pair of checkered boxers.

"Leave the bullshit at the door and trace this call," She snapped, straining her ear to hear another one of Pamela's strained sentences while Jesse sighed and began to take over from Cassy on the keyboard.

"Cass… me…" A desperate plea came through the phone before the line went dead. The blonde cursed loudly and snapped her cell shut.

"Did you get it?" She asked.

* * *

Pamela whipped her head upwards towards the sky, watching the rain fall in front of a flickering street lamp in the alleyway. Her hair was plastered to her face and head after being out in the wet so long, blood was flowing freely from her forehead and her knuckles were even worse. She had had to fight a lot to get all the way to Manhattan.

Growling slightly when the door of the phone box jammed, she lost her patience and took a step back, releasing a small telekinetic blast at the door and throwing it off its hinges. Pamela ignored booming clap of thunder above her, looking around the soaked alleyway with bloodshot eyes before raising her hands suddenly and blowing up a trash can, making garbage fly everywhere.

"DIE!" She screamed, spinning around swiftly and shattering a part of a brick wall with her powers, "They're all around me…" The teen growled, her eyes almost glowing in the haunting fluorescent glow from the street lamp, "Leave me… ALONE!"

Pamela swung her left arm out from her right side; a ripple of advanced telekinetic energy flowed from her limb and rushed through the confined space, blasting everything forwards as the energy ripped through the alley. Large dumpsters flew into the air while fire escapes from nearby buildings creaked and groaned as they were pulled from the wall and thrown roughly from the ground.

After a satisfying clatter, Pamela grinned to herself, she had killed the marshmallow men.

* * *

Piper slammed the cordless phone down forcefully on its holder, narrowing her eyes to make the intensity of the light from the lightning easier to see. Darryl's search for the currently missing Pamela hadn't turned up any news so far. Scrying, summoning, sensing and even just random orbing had turned up nothing for the sisters, and with Aidan blind, Skye too busy and the rest dead, they couldn't call open the power of the elementals to help. The eldest Halliwell witch ran a hand through her chestnut brown hair and shouted upstairs,

"Phoebe! Get down here!" She yelled, storming into the kitchen after hailing her younger sister. As she walked in, Piper found both of her sons sitting at the dining room table with sad looks on their faces.

"You guys…" She frowned, "What's the matter?"

Chris looked up towards her with his bottom lip trembling, "Why does all the bad stuff happen to you and Auntie Pheebs and Auntie Paige?"

The witch gave her four year old son a shocked look; she hadn't expected a question like that, "Sweetie…" She walked towards him and knelt down, "What are you talking about?"

He sniffed, "Uncle Aidan can't see, Auntie Emma's lost her special friend and she's got a baby, and Pammy's went away." Chris looked at his mother, tears forming in his eyes, "Don't she like us no more?"

Piper's eyes grew cloudy as she put one arm one her four year old son and another hand over her mouth, "No sweetie… She's… just, sick." She pulled back and dried his eyes, "I'm sure she misses you really much," Piper smiled and assured him.

Wyatt silently slid off his chair and walked over to his mother, who outstretched her arm and pulled them into a three way hug, comforting with of her children just as Leo orbed in with Aidan and Paige while Phoebe and Brennan walked in from the attic.

"Hey, easy," Paige spoke quietly patting Aidan's arm lightly as she held his wrist.

"Where are we?" The elemental blinked a few times behind his pitch black glasses.

"We're in the kitchen in the Manor," She explained, tapping Aidan's arm again.

"You called?" Phoebe said with a serious tone.

"Um… Yeah," Piper glanced at her boys, "Could you two go play in your room while the grown ups talk?" She asked sweetly.

Chris immediately complied, but Wyatt, being older, could tell that they were trying to get rid of them. The six year old bowed his head as he left, following his little brother towards the stairs.

Paige rolled her eyes when a clap of thunder sounded over the house, "God… It didn't stop all night and it's still going!"

"You okay?" Phoebe frowned at her sister, knowing that the youngest Charmed One had a fear of thunder and lightning.

"I told her to take the bed…" Aidan murmured under his breath.

Paige shot a look at him, "And I told you that you needed it more than I did,"

"Um… Speaking of needs," Brennan chipped in, handing a piece of paper to Piper, "This was on the front of Emma's door when we were coming down the stairs,"

_Everyone,_

_Although I appreciate your sympathy and support, you pity is overloading my senses and I would prefer to be left alone for the time being._

_Emma _

The eldest Halliwell let out a groan as she crumpled up the piece of paper and threw it at the trash can. Leo, who could see that his wife was heavily stressed, decided to take over and carry the burden of coordinising everyone.

"I think we should just let Emma sort out her feeling first. She won't be able to get a handle on her abilities until she's calmed down and therefore won't be able to filter our emotions." He turned to Paige, "Is Skye going to be a part of helping us find the new elementals?"

She nodded, "We won't be able to it without her anyway." Paige gave uncertain look to Aidan then looked back to her brother in law, "Will you manage to do this without-,"

Aidan cut her off, "Paige, I don't need you to look after me. I have Sandy if I want to go out; I still can't believe how good a guide dog she is,"

"No, I'm staying with you. If you're going to be living in the apartment, you're gonna need to know where everything is and where everything is set around the place if and when I decide to leave you on your own,"

Aidan opened his mouth to protest, but he decided against it, knowing he wouldn't win.

Leo sighed and shook his head, turning to Phoebe and Brennan, "Are you guys helping on this one?"

"Um… Actually…" Brennan hesitated, "I thought I would go into work and see if Pamela had been admitted to any hospitals in the country, we might be able to track her down that way,"

"So, I guess that leaves you, me and Skye," Phoebe said to Leo, nodding her head slightly.

As if on command, there was a gust of wind that flew around the kitchen, making everyone think that the back door had been blown open and the storm had been let in, but then a funnel began to form and Skye appeared from the tornado.

Two silver gauntlets covered and protected her hands. The shiny metal ran halfway up her forearm and was made with ridges that stuck out jaggedly. The edges of the metal ridges curved into wisps, making it look like small gusts of wind. The parts that covered her hand were also made of solid silver, or it seemed to be, although it seemed to bend and manipulate to Skye's hand position. In the center of the back of her hands, there were discs made out of gold that had etchings of clouds, hurricanes and lightning all over them.

"I think those are a little over the top," Paige cocked her eyebrows at the hand wear.

Skye rolled her eyes, "Cute. Actually, these are Zeus's Gauntlets, sorta makes sense since he's the God of the Skies,"

But Piper's eyes widened at the other object in Skye's hand, "I'm more concerned about the sword you've just brought into a house full of children! One of which, is a newborn!" She exclaimed, referring to Lorna.

Aidan chuckled, "I take it she's brought Hephaestus's Blade?"

Skye nodded quickly, "Hurry! I need somewhere to put this down!" Her eyes lit up when as she saw the kitchen counter was free. The wind elemental rushed towards the island and dropped the weapon with a resounding clang, immediately looking at her gauntlet covered hand afterwards.

"Ugh… That stung," Skye held up her palm to show everyone that it was glowing an angry orange colour. The sword had singed her hand.

"Let me heal that for you," Leo put out his hand, but Skye pulled hers away.

She smiled, "Thanks, but it's not burnt, it's just really hot." She explained, smiling a cooling sensation came from inside the gauntlet and made the heat disappear.

"Wait a minute, did you lift the sword? With your hands?" Aidan began looking around frantically, trying to figure out what direction he should be talking in.

"No, with my feet," Was her sarcastic comeback, "Don't worry about it, the gauntlets protected me,"

"Skye…" Aidan said in a fatherly tone, making Paige smile a little without anyone noticing.

"What? Without your help, I need the blade to find the fire elemental and I couldn't get it out of the chamber without carrying it. I think I was pretty resourceful," She put her hands in her hips proudly.

"Can we please just get all the magical stuff over with?" Piper snapped, coming up from her head in hands position, timing it along with a clap of thunder and a flash of lightning outside.

Everyone stood silently before Phoebe spoke, "Don't we need Apollo's Axe as well? To find Earth…" She trailed off slightly as her thoughts went to Grant.

"How is she?" Skye asked with genuine concern.

"She doesn't come out her room unless we're all out the house, which is practically never since we're always tied down by demons, magic and death!" The eldest fumed, getting up her chair and stomping out the room.

"Do you guys miss him?" Paige asked both water and wind elementals.

Aidan nodded immediately, "After everything that's been going on, he's the friend that's been there all the way through it. I just wish there was something I could do to help him now, or at least,"

Skye seemed to be thinking of an answer, "Well, as an elemental, I don't really feel sorry," Everyone gave her a shocked and disgusted look, "Only because of the whole opposing element thing!" She quickly explained further, "But when you take away the powers…" Skye bowed her head, "It was just… before his time, and it's not fair,"

Everyone sat in silence until a clap of thunder stirred them, making them look out the window at the rain falling from the sky. It was so dark, yet it was only eleven in the morning.

"Uh… I'm gonna go," Brennan whispered to his wife before planting a kiss on her temple and walking out of kitchen towards the front door.

"I guess we better get searching," Leo advised to Phoebe and Skye, "Why don't you grab the sword and try scrying with it,"

"What are you going to do?" Phoebe asked.

"Talk to my wife,"

* * *

Emma looked down at her daughter in the crib. The empath's room was bathed in candle light as she found it rather soothing on the dark morning instead of harsh light. The space was calming and it was exactly what Emma needed. She wondered if Lorna had already developed some sort of empathy power, and if she had, it made the mutant feel extremely guilty that she was subjecting a child, her child, to her grief.

Looking towards the window that was being lashed with rain, Emma sighed and put her hands in her back jean pockets, glancing at her reflection in the vanity. Even though a normal person wouldn't see it, Emma, who had spent her entire life reading other's emotions, knew that it was just a façade. She smirked slightly at the thought of seeing through herself before moving back to the bed, where Apollo's Axe lay.

The weapon looked blunt in a way, now that the magical connection had been severed with its owner. Emma ran her hand across the handle, remembering when she had did it to the blade and decided to avoid getting cut. The psionic let out another sigh before her tears began to well up in her eyes, but before she could lose it properly, Lorna began to stir in her crib.

"Morning sweetie…" She grinned down at the baby redhead, who giggled and wriggled her limbs. If Emma had to guess, she would that her child had the age of the a three month old baby, as she wasn't as small as a newborn and seemed to be not as big as old babies.

The psionic suddenly frowned at Lorna; she could have sworn that an orange flash had passed over her eyes for a split second. The baby pointed at the axe through the space between the bars on the crib, Emma's brow creased even more when she saw a gold glint pass over the weapon.

She looked from the axe to Lorna with wide eyes, "No… You can't be…" She whispered.

Lorna cooed softly before beginning to glow a pale pink colour. Her tiny body suddenly dispersed into thousands of tiny pieces of glowing pink grain, flying up and putting on a dazzling light show as the little one orb-sanded towards her father's weapon.

Apollo's Axe, as if responding to the glowing swarm of pink sand, began to float into the air and the orange aura that surrounded it got even brighter as it moved closer to the cloud of pink sand. It seemed to dance as the sand flew around it, spinning around in the haze of pink before suddenly giving off a burst of geokinetic energy, blasting everything in the room towards the four walls and knocking Emma unconscious as she smacked her head off the chest of drawers.

* * *

Piper leaned against the wall in the living room with her arms folded across her chest. She could see that the street was empty, probably due to the sever flooding that the city was being subjected to thanks to the weather. The witch's eyes were dull and loaded with sadness and grief.

"Piper…" Leo murmured cautiously, trying to avoid an outburst.

She ran her tongue along the roof of her mouth before speaking, "Chris just asked me why all the bad stuff happens to us," Her husband remained silent, "What can I tell him? I mean, how am I supposed to react to that? Especially when it's the truth. Aidan's blind, Pam's run off, Grant's dead, and Emma's had to adjust to motherhood within the space of a second. How am I supposed to keep everyone together when everyone is determined to break apart?"

"Piper, you can't blame yourself," He meekly replied, bowing his head slightly.

"Can't I? There has obviously been something wrong with Pam for a while now. She was acting so strange, if I had done something or paid more attention, she wouldn't be out on the streets right now… What?" Piper shot a look at Leo when she saw he was smiling.

"It's just…" He grinned, "Do you really believe that Pam is in some alley using a newspaper for cover? Honey, we're talking about the girl who has been to almost every country, has contacts in the strangest places, and, last but not least, drop kicked a meter maid!"

Piper had to smile at that. Pamela had been given forty hours of community service and a court order to attend an anger management class.

"I hope you're right," She replied, "Because Pam also knows how to cover her tracks. If she doesn't want us to find her then we won't,"

"We won't, but Arc will." Leo smirked slightly, "Apparently, thanks to the magic she infused him with when she created him, he can track her through it."

She frowned, "What magic did she use?"

"Something pretty powerful…"

* * *

Phoebe was sitting on the floor in front of the table that had all the scrying equipment on it. She stared at Hephaestus's Blade with narrow eyes, trying to figure out a way to hold it without being burned.

"Maybe if I just..." She thought aloud, carefully pressing a finger on the hilt, but she regretted it a hissing sound burst from the blade and burned her fingertip, "Ow!" She exclaimed, shaking her hand vigorously in the air before putting her finger in her mouth and forming a pout.

She whipped her head round to where Skye was sitting, thoroughly amused, "Have your gauntlets repaired themselves yet?" Phoebe snapped.

"Hold on…" The elemental replied calmly, watch as the whole in the palm of gauntlet finally disappeared, "Done," She got up and walked towards the table, kneeling down them putting her hand on the sword. It hissed and sparked immediately from the touch of anyone other than a fire elemental.

Phoebe quickly took Skye's free hand and begun to spin the amethyst crystal above the map of the world.

"How's it going?" Leo asked as he came into the room.

"We've just started scrying," Phoebe informed, her eye twitching slightly as she felt the crystal tugging towards a point on the map. "I still don't know how we're going to convince the new elemental that is one. I mean, an angel, a witch, and an elemental appear out of nowhere and tell you you're a powerful magical being? I would even freak out."

"All they need to do is touch the sword. Everything else will fall into place after that," Skye explained before wincing, "Okay, hurry up! This is starting to get really, _really_ hot!"

"You guys! Come and see this!" Piper's voice shouted from the bottom floor.

Phoebe's eyes went wide as the crystal dropped, "Okay, why has it landed in the middle of the North Pacific?"

"What?" Skye peered forward.

"I'll go see what Piper wants," Leo announced before walking out of the room and down the stairs of the attic while Phoebe and Skye marveled at where the crystal had dropped.

* * *

"Look at this," Piper pointed towards the television as she pressed a button on the remote to increase the volume.

"_So when is the funnel scheduled to hit the coast?"_ The news girl asked the reporter. The screen switched to a reporter who was getting bombarded by the wind and rain as he stood at the docks of San Francisco.

"_Well Gill, weather experts say that this is one of the fiercest storms in the history of the world. You might be able to see it…"_ He gestured out towards the choppy ocean, indicating the camera man to zoom in.

In the darkness of the horizon, a thick, black cylinder of wind could be seen on the sea. The water was rising up around it as it almost created a typhoon with the force of its gusts.

"_Tom, sources tell us that a ship carrying oil is still out there. Any word on its safe return to port?"_

"_I'm afraid not Gill, those brave men out there are, unfortunately, thought to be doomed. The funnel should reach the city within an hour,"_

"Oh my God…" Leo breathed.

A cloud of orbs fell through the ceiling as Paige appeared with Aidan, immediately letting go of his hand as they arrived, "Hey, have you seen the news?"

"About the tornado?" Piper gestured at the TV set.

"Not just that! These things are happening everywhere! Flash floods in Brazil, freak snowstorms in Japan, and hailstones the size of soccer balls are falling the UK!"

"It's like the whole world is shutting off the heat," Leo thought aloud.

"I'm sure I've seen this in a movie somewhere…" Piper mused.

Aidan nodded, "Earth and fire are aligning elements. With both of their representatives dead, wind and water are taking the world apart with these weather conditions."

"You guys…" Phoebe grabbed their attention as she walked in with Skye, "The fire elemental keeps moving gradually along in the North Pacific. We think they're an a boat or something,"

Piper and Leo exchanged looks, remembering the news report, "It can't be…"

Pink orbs descended from the ceiling as Emma appeared, holding Lorna. Everyone was too overwhelmed by the current situation to immediately feel pity for the empath, so she quickly announced her news.

"Lorna's the new earth elemental," She said flatly.

The group gave a blank look before Piper groaned and flopped back in her chair, "This is too many realizations for me!"

"How do you know?" Aidan asked her, looking around for where he had heard Emma's voice come from.

"The fact that her and Apollo's Axe seemed enjoy each others company and destroying the contents of my room seem to tell me,"

"Wait…" Skye put her hands up, making everyone go silent, "I suddenly have a strong dislike for that kid." She announced, horrifying everyone, "Don't you get it? That means that she's the earth elemental for sure! I usually love children!"

"Still doesn't make it alright that you don't like my child," Emma shot a look at Skye. The two usually got along.

"Okay, so after we find the fire elemental, that should fix everything, right?" Phoebe gave a questioning look to Aidan, who didn't reply as he didn't see the look.

Paige tapped his arm slightly, "What? Oh! Sorry! And no, I don't think so. The balance has been severely damaged. After we find the fire elemental, them, me, Skye, and… Lorna," He hesitated, "Will perform the balancing ceremony in the Elemental Chamber along with a spell from you guys,"

"Alright!" Piper exclaimed, standing up and finally taking charge, "Here's what we're going to do. Paige and I will work on a spell in the Chamber and we'll take Aidan, Emma and Lorna with us. You three…" She gestured to Leo, Phoebe, and Skye, "Will go find the newcomer." She clapped her hands, "Okay, break!"

* * *

The ghostly sound of the hull groaning what the first thing that hit Phoebe's ears as she and Skye gusted onto the ship while Leo orbed in next to them. A screeching sound was coupled with the ship tilting violently and throwing the three of them into the wall of the small corridor they had arrived.

"This is the way to travel…" Phoebe said to her companions sarcastically as she wrapped her raincoat around her more tightly and pulled her hat down more.

"Kind of ironic that the fire elemental is out at sea…" Leo commented.

"We're close…" Skye said, noticing that the sword in her hand was growing hotter.

"Um… guys?" Phoebe tapped them on the shoulders, "We're not the only ones."

Three scruffy looking men were standing at the other end of the corridor, each of them had wicked grins on their faces as the leader raised his hand, conjuring a fireball. Demons.

"We like the world as it is. We're not going to let you screw it up!" He warned, swinging her arm back before releasing the globe.

"Duck!" Leo shouted, making the girls hit the deck as the fireball flew straight over them and hit the door that was marked 'engine room'

"We can't fight here, it's too confined." Phoebe advised, watching as the three demons advanced on them.

"C'mon, down here." Skye gestured down the hall. The three of them began to run while the demons threw more fireballs. Leo, aggravated from the assault, turned around and let loose a small blot of lightning. It smacked the first demon in the chest and knocked him to the ground, giving the group enough time to reach the engine room.

The sound of machinery was deafening in this room. Steam was pouring out of various contraptions, letting loose a hissing noise to go with the vibrating hum that ran though the large space.

"Split up. We'll meet back here after we've taken them out." Skye instructed. The other two nodded, Phoebe was a little hesitant as she only had her spell casting power, but she nodded anyway and started across the metal walkway. But before any of them could get away from each other, the three demons shimmered in front of them, blocking their exit.

Skye circled her enemy on the large metal grate they were standing on, taunting him slightly with a smirk and waving. The demon took the bait and Skye threw out her hand, the emblem on the back of the gauntlet glowed as a tornado flew from Skye's palm. The funnel blasted the evil being in the chest, throwing him across the room and not to mention causing a strong wind in the area. Getting up and spitting the blood out of his mouth, the demon shimmer in right in front of her and went for a punch, but Skye grabbed his fist, tapping into the power of Zeus's Gauntlet's and crushing it easily before smacking the demon in the stomach and sending him flying towards the wall, where he was impaled in a metal maintenance rod before exploding in a fiery vanquish.

Leo threw out a carefully aimed lightning bolt, making it wouldn't hit any of the engines if it missed. The demon ducked and rolled to the ground, flinging a fireball at the elder and making him blow up in a swirl of orbs before reforming. Leo gave the being a murderous look.

"That hurt…" He growled, throwing out another perfectly aimed lightning bolt, which the demon dodged with the same strategy. But this time, Leo orbed out before the fireball could hit him, orbing back in behind the enemy and blasting him with two powerful shots of electricity. The demon was lifted into the air as he writhed and screamed before combusting in a shower of sparks.

Phoebe took her fighting stance before dropping down and swinging her right leg at the demons feet, trying to sweep him as she spun on her left foot. He submitted as his feet gave out he fell to the metal surface, but the demon quickly got up while Phoebe was still crouched on the ground. Noticing a metal chain on the ground, the middle Halliwell dropped to her back and thrust out her legs, kicking her enemy in the chest and making him stumble back as she grabbed the metal chain.

"Stupid wi-," He was cut off by Phoebe suddenly leaping on him and forcing him to ground. She wrapped the ends of the chain in her hands before putting it over the demon's neck, pinning his head to the floor and cutting off his air supply at the same time.

Phoebe expected the battle to be won after that, but the demon just smirked and grabbed hold of the chain before shimmering out and taking the chain with him. The witch looked around wide eyed, fearful of where the enemy would materialize. Sure enough, Phoebe stood up and turned around just in time for the demon to shimmer in and push her to the floor, pinning her neck down with the metal chain and slowly choking her and she writhed.

"Phoebe!" Leo called out, running towards his struggling sister in law.

The demon smirked as Phoebe squirmed, trying to get free from his grip. He grinned as she stopped squirming; he thought she had just given up until he looked at her face. It was calm and serene, instead of the fearful and in pain expression that been there a few moments ago. Phoebe's eyes burst open, revealing that they had turned into two lightning filled orbs; she smirked before raising her hands and pulling the demon and his chain off her.

"You shall not harm my child's guardian," She said with a voice that seemed to torn between Phoebe's voice and someone else's.

A massive amount of lightning and static electricity flew from her wide eyes and hit the demon, sending extreme voltage through his body and finally ending in his vanquish. The stray bolts from Phoebe's eyes hit the machinery and steam began to pour from them. A red light began to flash in the room and an alarm echoed.

There was a blue flash, signifying that the alien presence had left the witch. Phoebe let out a loud gasp and put her hands on her knees; taking deep breathes before looking up with a puzzled expression, "What happened?"

"You don't remember?" Leo frowned. She shook her head.

"It doesn't matter right now, but your little wig out blew most of the engines. These guys now have no chance of avoiding the tornado." Skye snapped.

"Then we better find the right person and fix everything before the tornado hits." Phoebe said with a wavering confidence before they continued walking. She looked back with a strange glance, still seeing the smoke of her 'wig out'.

* * *

The Angel's Melody hummed beautifully through the Elemental Chamber. The walls sparkled and glowed with sheer magic, while the water lapped at the bases of the platforms that were dotted around the chamber. The water seemed to reflect a clear night sky as stars could be seen on the surface. It was a haven.

The serenity, of course, was broken by the ranting of Piper Halliwell.

"Where are they?" She looked at her watch again, "That tornado is going to hit the city in ten minutes, not to mention tear apart our homes!"

"Would you stop it?" Paige snapped, "You're making me nervous!"

"Well, you should be nervous. Are you guys ready?" She asked Aidan, who had been orbed to the platform that had a statue of his elemental form on it.

"Yeah!" He called back, nervously pressing his hands on the statue.

"Emma?" Paige called kindly to the psionic, who was placing her daughter's hand on the statue of Grant's elemental form. The stone golem.

"Yeah…" Emma called back, tears welling up as she looked at the pillar.

Piper's eyes lit up when orbs and wind filled the air. Leo appeared; he had his hand on Phoebe's shoulder as she looked down at her feet. Skye gusted in with a tall man, with messy black hair that covered his eyes slightly. He was of medium built and was wearing in oily overall, not to mention carrying the Blade of Hephaestus.

"Okay Maxwell, I'm going to take you to that statue over there," Skye pointed to the large stone dragon on one of the platforms.

"Alright," Maxwell replied before Skye grabbed his shoulder and gusted them over to the fire statue.

"Why is he acting to cool?" Paige cocked an eyebrow at the new elemental.

"Um… well…" Leo stammered, hitting his hands together lightly, "I used a cooperation charm on him, just to make things go a little quicker,"

"Are you allowed to do that?" Piper smirked at her husband.

"When the world is at stake, yes," He retorted.

Phoebe walked towards her sisters, still with her head bowed, "You got the spell?" She droned. All four elementals had taken their places.

"Yeah," Piper pulled a piece of paper out of her pocket, "Are you okay?"

She looked up and forced a smile, "Sure. Let's do this," She took her place next to Piper as she held out the spell.

Each of the elementals closed their eyes, even Lorna as they began to glow their respective colours. The light from each person slowly began to flow into the statue in front of them, filling them with pent up energy as the three elementals capable of talking were put into a trance where they muttered an ancient language. The Charmed Ones began to chant their spell.

"Earth, wind, water, and fire,

Them all united, is our desire,"

They repeated their spell until white hot light shot from the four statues, flying up into the endless ceiling of the Elemental Chamber and heading out towards the world, where it would correct the balance.

* * *

The fishermen of San Francisco docks look out to the sea in fear as they saw the funnel getting even closer. All of them had to hold onto their hats as the wind flew by them at an alarming speed, almost knocking them all to the ground.

But before anything else could happen, the wind died down, along with the intensity of the rain. The men took their hands off their hats and looked out to where the tornado was now spinning a lot slower. It eventually dissipated, leaving only the view of a stranded ship on the horizon as the sun shone through a crack in the clouds.

* * *

**NEXT TIME:** Phoebe confides in Brennan about her experience on the ship. Aidan is angry and embarrassed when Paige loses her temper at a store clerk for trying to take advantage of the elemental's disability. Cassy finds Pamela and gives her a choice; go into the mutant underground, or go home. Which shall she choose?

Chapter 28 should be up soon!

**PS:** Do you guys think that my chapters are getting too long? Because this one was around 10 pages in Microsoft Word and I just want to make that this isn't too much to read. Thanks!


	28. Heart Over Head

Ravenix – Yes to both of your questions! And Phoebe will gain back a power in the next chapter! Thanks for reviewing!

Phoebe turner – Thanks!

Chyp – Thank, I just wanted to make sure I wasn't boring anyone lol. Thanks!

Prince Halliwell – Thanks! You don't the patience? Well, after reading your latest chapter, I beg to differ ;) More about Phoebe's experience is reveal at the end of the chapter. And it's not just Grant, it'll probably become clearer in Chapter 30, that's when everything kicks off! And they didn't kill the grimlock that took his eyesight, so he hasn't got it back yet. Heh, Maxwell will probably be more important in the sequel. Zach and Jenna, huh? I think you're going to like this chapter.

Princess Pinky – Ha! You are the one for puns and plays on words after all! That seems to be the popular opinion; I usually have a lot to fit into one chapter, that's why they're so long! Yeah, I had to put some MX in! I'm glad you liked all the elemental stuff, Maxwell isn't really going to be a big thing in this fic, glad you liked his name! Thanks, to be honest, I had some writers block with that chapter. Heh… Pink sands forever!

Piperfairy – They didn't get the grimlock, but they will next chapter!

Loz – Thanks, and there's quite a lot of Connor stuff in this chapter!

Wyatt halliwell – Thanks!

Unique deflection – Thanks! And you're pretty close with the possession theory!

Aniaka – Heh, I usually finish chapters late at night and I'm too tired to proof read 10 pages, that's why so many of them have little mistakes that the spell checker didn't pick up! Most of your questions are answered in this chapter, including the marshmallow men one! And no! I would never turn Lorna evil what colour would her sanding be if I did? And I did check your fic, but I didn't review because I would have made an ass out of myself by complimenting something I know nothing about, but it was very well written! See? I told you that if your writing was half as good as your reviews you'd be successful!

**Heart Over Head**

"Face it Lockhart, we're lost," Jenna sighed as she looked up towards the hot sun, putting her arm on her forehead in an attempt to shield her eyes, as her sunglasses weren't enough.

"Would you stop saying that, please?" The telepath snapped, looking at the map that he had spread out in the hood of his car.

Jenna looked back at him, rolling her eyes behind her shades, "Why are you even looking at that? We're on a straight, desolate, dry road. I don't think you need to look for the nearest exit."

Zach looked up from the map and looked left and right. She was right. The heat was distorting their view of the empty road that seemed to go on forever, even the cacti on the side of the tarmac had given up in this heat, and they thrived in it!

"Wait a minute…" Jenna grinned to herself, jumping off the hood and standing in front of her car with her hands raised, "Stand back,"

Unsure of what the illusionist was trying to do, Zach sighed before folding up the map and taking a few paces back.

"If you insist on this road trip, we're going to travel in style and not in the tin can on wheels you call a car." She announced before gesturing at the rusty vehicle.

The entire car glowed bright white and a soft breeze picked up, which the overheated teens reveled in. The light grew and changed shape before it faded, leaving a sparkling brand new 4x4.

"Air conditioning, satellite navigation, automatic CD changer and massaging chairs. Damn, I'm good!" She smirked.

"Is that even real?" Zack raised a skeptical eyebrow at her, knowing Jenna's illusion power all too well.

She looked quite offended, "Have you just decided to forget about my other power? I shapeshifted your car! The least you could do is thank me!"

He gave his new car a wide eyed look, grinning when he realized the truth, "You mean this car is-,"

"Yes, I pimped your ride," Jenna rolled her eyes, "Now, hand over the keys. I'm driving," She held out her hand impatiently and tapped her foot.

"No way!"

"Look, you can't use the old keys in the new car and I'm not shapeshifting them until they're in my hand. Kepeesh?"

Zach sighed and threw the keys in Jenna's direction, cursing the fact that he hung around with headstrong women before getting in the passenger seat reluctantly. Jenna grinned as she sat down in front of the steering wheel, turning the keys in the ignition and starting the powerful engine.

"Hey! You didn't shapeshift the keys!" He protested.

"Didn't have to!" She said triumphantly, sticking her tongue out before slamming her foot down on the pedal and speeding off down the road.

* * *

"So, how do you know Phoebe's niece anyway?" Lexa questioned her blonde friend as they stood at the hospital desk with Riley; she leaned her arm on the surface and faced Cassy.

"Isn't it obvious? They're both nuts!" Riley chipped in, which got him a hard punch on in the stomach from his telekinetic teammate.

"Well, about five years ago I volunteered at a hospital," She began to explain, causing Lexa to smirk, "What?"

"Oh nothing, continue,"

"Well, I spent most of my time in the psyche ward, it was after my mind had been taken apart by Ivanov and I wanted to help people a like me,"

"Told you…" Riley hummed. Cassy whipped her head around.

"Hey, Yogi, don't make me get the bear trap out." She warned. The ursine feral's eyes flashed a midnight blue colour threateningly, Cassy stepped up too while Lexa just sighed. The two of them always rubbed each other up the wrong way.

"Anyway…" She shot a look at Riley before continuing, "Pamela was in there, she was around…. Thirteen I think. She was being treated for her schizophrenia but it was kinda hard since she'd subtly use her powers on every doctor that came at her and make them think they were crazy."

"Until you came along, right? Calmed her down?" Lexa raised an eyebrow.

Cassy laughed, "I wish! She tried to ice me so I pinned her to the wall with my powers and shoved those pills down her throat. Pretty much good friends after that, until she escaped one night. I never saw her again…"

"I'm sorry but we don't have a Pamela Walker registered here," The nurse at the desk said with a smile.

The telekinetic mutant let out a sigh and turned towards the door, but she suddenly stopped in her tracks and spun around, going back to the desk.

"What about… Janette Hartman?"

* * *

Aidan bowed his head as he let the shampoo in his hair be washed out by the water pounding on the base of his neck. He ran his hands over his face, enjoying the fact his morning shower usually bought him some clarity and some to think. Taking a cautious step backwards so he would directly under the showerhead, Aidan closed his eyes and let the warm water sooth his aching muscles.

A knock on the door interrupted his non-existent thoughts, "Aidan? You alright in there?" Paige's muffled voice shouted.

The elemental let out a frustrated sigh, "I'm fine, Paige!" He shouted back.

Paige had been doing this ever since offering Aidan a place to stay. She had been overly protective and slightly pushy when it came to certain things, like whenever he was left alone, she would check on him every fifteen minutes. When these sort of things happened, Aidan's mind screamed, "Tell her to knock it off!" but deep down, he knew that his ex was only trying to help and he was glad of the help adjusting to being blind.

If he had to be honest, he was finding it a lot easier than it had been in the first two weeks. After all, this was the first shower he had had without Paige standing outside the cubicle handing him shower gel and shampoo, not to mention handing in towels over the top. But today, she had just laid out everything on a small shelf in the cubicle and the towel has slung over the edge at the top in preparation. Although Paige probably wouldn't like to admit it, she had bought shower gel and shampoo that had very defining bottle shapes, making it easier for him to figure out which one was which.

Turning around with small baby steps, Aidan felt the wall for the knob that turned the shower off. A triumphant smile spread across his face when he did, turning it slowly to make sure it was the right one and not the one that controlled the water temperature. When the water was only a dribble, he pawed around the top of the cubicle and found the towel, which he proceeded to wrap around his waist before pushing at one of the glass sides, opening the door and walking out slowly onto the mat.

Aidan made sure the soles of his feet we're dry before walking out onto the tiled floor. He used one hand to hold the towel at his waist and the other to navigate his way through the bathroom. When Aidan reached the door, he knocked on the surface. That was Paige's signal to come and help him towards the bedroom.

Sure enough, the door was opened and he felt Paige take his wrist delicately, "Hey, I left you some clothes out on the bed."

"Uh… thanks, but I think I'm just going to go back to bed." He replied.

He could hear the hesitation in her voice as she spoke, "Okay…"

"I still feel guilty about taking the bed," Aidan changed the subject as Paige veered him out of the way of the sofa.

"Oh, don't worry about it! The couch has a fold out so I'm quite comfortable,"

"Wait," He halted, "When I came back, I had to sleep on that couch and you're telling me it was a fold out all along?"

Paige resumed their walking, "Well, I was hurt, and angry that you had just popped back into my life. I took my victories where I could find them! You having uncomfortable nights counted as a victory for me,"

"You're evil," Aidan replied with a grin.

"I know. Listen, Piper's organized some sort of barbeque thing for the family. She says it's so we can spend time with each other, but I think she just wants to take her mind off Pam's disappearance. I was going to go with the girls, you can come if you want or we can just stay here,"

"_We_ won't be staying here. Go enjoy some time with your family; it'll be good for the girls to enjoy this nice day you described to me this morning. I'll stay; I'm just a burden to you like this anyway,"

"No you're not," Paige protested as they reached the bedroom door, "You may not be able to see it, but you can feel the sun on your face, hear your kids laughing and having fun, even have some good food! I hear Brennan's mean when it comes to barbeques,"

He smiled nervously, "Thanks, but I'm just gonna stay here. But go have a great time. Bring me back some food in a doggy bag,"

Aidan heard his ex sigh, "Alright… but the phone is on the nightstand, just press the top right button then the top left and it'll dial my cell number. I reprogrammed the damn thing,"

"Paige…"

"Aidan…" She said back in the same tone, "What would you rather have? Hundreds of servants looking after you at the castle or me helping you?"

He laughed slightly as he stepped into the bedroom, "I think you know the answer to that. I just hope that me being here isn't too…"

"Weird? Don't worry; I got over you a _long_ time ago,"

The door closed shortly after that, leaving Aidan with a slight grin on his face before drying himself off.

* * *

"Hey!" Pamela shouted out the open door of the hospital room, "If the government's health program 'requires' me to stay here," She rolled her eyes after quoting the nurse, "Could you please, _please_, get me some food that doesn't make bile rise to my throat?"

"Well Miss, if you were to take the medication, maybe they would release you," Arc offered from his perch on top of a metal cupboard, shaking his angel and devil's wing simultaneously.

She whipped her head around to face the stone servant, "I haven't needed my meds in years. This is just a minor set back,"

The gargoyle flew silently and gracefully down from his perch to land on the bed, "Miss… Do you even remember how you made it to Manhattan?" She remained silent, "You may have ordered me to stay with you here, but it's my duty as your gargoyle to insure your safety. There's only so far you can take my trust before I inform your aunts of your location,"

She smiled as she paced the room, "Do that and I will go to a place where no one can find me,"

"I seriously doubt that, especially without your powers." He added quietly.

Pamela's eyes widened as she gave the gargoyle a look of murderous rage, "You didn't…" She growled.

"In your water last night. I'm sorry Miss, but you've been acting self destructive ever since you left home. I did it to insure your safety."

She advanced on him threateningly, "Arc, give me my powers or I'll-,"

"Even you can't break stone without your powers. And I used a potion to bind them, to reverse the process will take a spell, which neither of us can do," He casually scratched the back of his pointy ear lazily.

"Well, I should be glad you're not hallucinating talking gargoyles, but creating them? Hmm…"

Pamela looked up and grinned at the woman standing there, "Well it's about time."

"Well…" Cassy began as she strode into the room, "You're pretty hard to track down. It's good I remembered your alias name,"

"Good old Janette Hartman… She's been good to me over the years." Pamela looked at Arc, "See? I have plenty of contacts that can look after me; they don't feel the need to bind my powers,"

Arc rolled his eyes, "I did it for your own good Miss, you'll see,"

"Uh huh," She said skeptically, "Okay, fly out the window. We'll meet you in the alley," Pamela looked at her old friend, "You_ are_ getting me out, right?"

Cassy, nodded, "Yeah, I'm with some people that are waiting in the lobby. A cleverly worded cooperation spell will get you out of here… As long as you take the meds. Don't want marshmallow men on your tail now, do we?"

"Oh God… I didn't,"

"Yeah, you did."

"Did you tell them that that's only what I called the fat nurses in the hospital all those years ago?" The mutant shook her head with a smirk, "Cass!"

"You know the big white guy from Ghostbusters? The one with the sailor hat?" Pamela nodded, 'Yeah, I sorta told them that you see him when you hallucinate."

"Ugh… Bitch." The teen groaned as she got a bag out from the top of the cupboard before opening the window and gesturing to Arc. The gargoyle took off at an amazing speed; even if some had been looking at the window from the outside they wouldn't have seen him.

"Yeah, yeah. So what's your plan after I bust you out of here? Going back home?"

Pamela snorted out a laugh, "Yeah, right. How about slipping me into the new mutant underground, I hear that goes pretty far around the world."

Cassy's face fell, "What…? Pam, you can't. Lexa and Jesse have had calls from Brennan and Phoebe telling them to look out for you in every security tape, every safe house. They don't know that you know the mutant underground like the back of your hand, they think you're living in a dumpster somewhere and you just want to slip away as if they never existed?"

Pamela slammed her bag down on the bed, "Look, I tried the family thing! I stuck with it for two and a half years but I can't do it anymore, alright? I just can't!"

"Why? You have no idea how good you have it! How long are you going to hide behind the 'tortured childhood' routine? Because let me tell you, it's getting _really_ old. What are you so afraid of? Loving the people that love you?" Cassy's eyes were welling up with tears of rage, "Who am I kidding? Your heart's harder than your little pet gargoyle out there."

The two of them stared heatedly at one another before the blonde mutant ran her hand through her hair, "I'll make you a deal, if you possess one of your family members and tell your family that you are never coming back, then I will put you into the mutant underground as soon as we get out of this hospital. But I doubt you can really do that…"

"Well, with my stone heart that shouldn't be too hard," She gave Cassy a forced grin, "I need my powers back,"

"I'll take care of that, we got a deal?"

* * *

Connor toddled around with his big cousin Chris as they played with Sandy. The infant let out a laugh when his aunt's dog caught the Frisbee that had been thrown by Leo, who had been put on kid watch as everyone else helped his wife get food out into the garden from the kitchen.

Phoebe had to suppress the enormous grin on her face as she watched her son play with his uncle and cousin. She had been having a lot of these moments recently, ones where she was just glad for Connor coming into her life. The one year old was wearing grey shorts that stopped just above his ankles; Phoebe had also donned him in a navy blue baseball cap and a "Fantastic Four" t-shirt. The middle Halliwell wanted her child to grow with the ideal that good beats evil, so needless to say, Connor owned a lot of superhero merchandise.

"I got buns!" Brennan announced as he brought out a plate of hamburger rolls.

Phoebe gave him a wide eyed look as he set down the plate on the outside table, "Beg your pardon?"

He pointed at the rolls, "Buns," Her husband explained with a smirk.

She let out a sigh, "Where's Piper?"

"Still getting stuff from the kitchen. Paige is upstairs trying to convince Emma to come down," Brennan explained before grinning at his son, who has walking towards his parents, "Hey, buddy!" He greeted, kneeling down and holding out his arms.

Connor gave Brennan cheeky smile and held out his arms in a similar fashion, "Da… Daddy!" He suddenly blurted out.

Phoebe dropped the bun she had been nibbling on and all colour drained from Brennan's face, Leo was so shocked that it took him a while to realize that Sandy was nudging him on the leg with the Frisbee. Connor had just said his first word.

Brennan suddenly let out a burst of laughter and jogged towards the toddler, picking him up his arms and spinning him around in the air, completely overjoyed. Phoebe couldn't keep the grin off her face, she joined the hug that her husband had Connor in and began to babble.

"Did you say Daddy? Do you know who Daddy is? That's your Daddy holding you!" She grinned as Brennan handed Connor to her, kissing her son the cheek and hugging him tightly.

"What's going on?" Piper asked as she brought out more food.

"Connor just said 'Daddy'!" Phoebe replied, ecstatic, but she fell silent when she saw Paige and Emma coming out of the back door with the twins and Lorna. Piper looked hesitantly between her two sisters, knowing that a father for their children was an issue for both her baby sister and her psionic roommate. Thankfully, a groan of pain from Leo broke the silence and shifted everyone's attention to him.

"What's wrong? Come sit here." Piper urged, walking towards her husband before his body glowed a hazy blue. When Leo looked up, his eyes were different, but familiar. "Leo?"

He smirked, "No… but he's in here somewhere,"

"Pam?" Emma's eyes widened, sensing the teen's presence.

Paige frowned before narrowing her eyes at her brother in law. She activated her multi dimensional sight and scanned him, seeing that there were two lights fighting for space within Leo's spiritual body on the astral plane.

"It _is_ her…" The youngest Charmed One murmured.

Leo put up his hands and smiled, "Okay, you got me. I have to tell you all something,"

"What is it? Are you okay? When are coming home?" Piper laid a hand on her possessed husband's shoulder.

"…I'm not," He looked at everyone, "Look, I've enjoyed getting to know you all the past two years, but it's time for me to move on." Pamela/Leo bowed his head, "There's just…" He seemed on the verge of tears, "I'm sorry, I can't… Goodbye."

"No… You can't!" Piper shouted, grabbing Leo and shaking him violently, "I promised! I promised Prue! Pamela Walker, get your ass back here!" She screamed, but it was too late, a blue glow from Leo signified that Pamela had left his body.

* * *

Pamela gasped as she brought her chin away from her chest. Tears began to appear in her eyes as she awoke, knowing that she had probably already hurt her family. There was no turning back from the underground now. Willing her tears away, she faced an impatient Cassy who had her arms crossed.

"Did you do it?" She snapped.

"Yes." Pamela replied with a croaky voice, clearing her throat immediately.

Cassy let out a sigh, "Alright then, grab your bag and let's go meet that gargoyle of yours…" She said, clearly defeated.

But before either of them could make a move, small sparkles of light began to spiral around in a tornado like fashion. Cassy, apprehending magic in the air, quickly closed the door so that no one would see. Bickering voices could be heard in the lights as two people emerged.

"Stop chanting that spell! It won't work!" A familiar voice said.

"Why would Arc lie to us?" Another said.

It was Zach and Jenna.

Pamela's mind had lost control of her body. Her heart was now in control. Without saying a word, she bounded over the bed that was between her and her friends, and before Zach could even realize it, Pamela had jumped on him, wrapping her legs around his waist and kissing him passionately. It took the telepath a few seconds before he began to return the kiss, holding onto the base of his girlfriend's thighs to make sure he didn't drop her.

Pamela suddenly dropped from her boyfriend's hold and lunged at Jenna, hugging her and crying into her shoulder while the dark haired illusionist just reciprocated nervously, obviously not expecting such a welcome.

"How did you guys find me with a spell? I cast cloaking charms on myself."

"Yeah, but when Arc bound your powers, those charms wore off permanently, even when you got them back. He contacted us telepathically to tell us where we could find you." Jenna explained.

Pamela rolled her eyes as she turned to the window, seeing Arc on the ledge with a smile on his face. She raised her hand and pointed at him.

"You're getting remodeled to have hooves when we get home," She warned with a smile.

Cassy couldn't help but grin, "Does this mean you've rethought your decision?"

The teen looked at the mutant for a while before turning around drooping into Zach's arms.

"Take me home,"

* * *

Emma sat on a deckchair in the garden with Lorna in her arms. Thinking over everything that had happened to her ever since meeting Paige. That Christmas seemed like such a long time ago, her life had been changed so much by that one moment. The psionic changed the angle of how she was holding her daughter so that she was sitting on her lap. Emma gave Lorna a small smile before pulling her close and watching the sunset.

The memorial service had given the mutant witch some closure, but it didn't stop her from hurting, something told her that, on some level, she would never stop hurting, she would just learn to deal with it gradually until it didn't feel so consuming. Her thoughts were broken by Lorna reaching up touching her face, Emma blinked a few times before smiling at her three month old child.

"I'll always have you, won't I?" She smiled before rubbing noses with the infant, making both mother and daughter giggle with delight at one another.

Scuffing of boots caught Emma's attention as she turned towards where the driveway came up into the garden. Her jaw dropped when she saw Pamela standing there, twisting the strap of her bag nervously and pursing her lips.

"Is there still a room for a selfish brat with issues and a mental illness?" She smiled as she walked into the garden.

The psionic gave her a sympathetic look, "Go and ask your wreck of an aunt in there. You pushed her over the edge with your little possession trick earlier."

Pamela let out a sigh as she knelt down and grinned at Lorna, "Cute. Who's is she?"

"Mine." Emma said, beaming with pride.

"What?" She screeched in surprise, "Who would go and have a baby in the space of two weeks! What's Grant got to say about this?"

"PAM!" Piper bellowed, standing at the back door with her hands on her hips.

"It's alright Piper, she didn't know…"

Pamela frowned at the two of them, "Know what?"

* * *

Paige maneuvered the double stroller through the door of her dark apartment; she looked around to see if Aidan had managed to make it back before her. She had spent most of the evening trying to find him after he had stormed off at the store with Sandy; the witchlighter wheeled the stroller into the twin's room. Paige was about to orb out with them and take them to Magic School so she could continue looking for Aidan, until Sandy trotted into the room.

"Aidan?" She called out.

Sandy whined and trotted into the main bedroom, Paige followed her in to find Aidan sitting on the bed looking in the direction of the window.

"How did you get back here before me?" She asked, taking her jacket off and setting it down on the bed.

He swallowed and cleared his throat, "I told you, Sandy's a damn good guide dog."

"Oh…" She picked her cuticles slightly, "I'm sorry,"

Aidan let out a hollow laugh, "For what? Embarrassing both of us or making it out as if I'm so fragile I can't handle anything?"

"… Both," Paige replied meekly as she sat down in a chair next to the window, pulling it closer to the bed.

He sighed and shook his head, "I'm not a charity case, Paige. I can look after myself,"

"I know…"

"I mean, if that ass at the store was willing to take a twenty from me when I thought it was a ten, then let that be his thing to do. Karma will get him eventually; you didn't need to fly off handle like that."

"I know…"

"And I know that you were only trying to help, like you have done for the past two weeks, but in some situations, I can do things for myself. I don't need you all the time,"

"Okay…"

Aidan groaned and gripped to the bed sheet with his fists, "Would you just tell me what you think instead of agreeing and complying with everything?"

She stood up, "What do want me to say, Aidan? That I will happily step aside and let you look after yourself? That I don't care what happens to you? Well, I can't! Because that's _not_ how a feel!"

Aidan stood up after her, "Then what do feel? Huh? Tell me!"

Paige walked closer to him, "You want to know why I'm holding on so tight? It's because I can't bear to lose you again! Why else to you think that I'm looking after you like this? I don't want you to walk out of my life again! Of your children's life!" She took a break as she began to cry, "I still love you…"

Aidan stood in front of her, blinking more than usual as he didn't know how to react, "I…"

"I have to… to go to bed," Paige wiped her eyes and began to walk out of the room.

"Paige…" Aidan called out, extending his arms and trying to feel around for her.

Trying to make his job easier, Paige sighed and moved back in front of him. She closed her eyes as his hand found her cheek. He held her face with both hands, brushing his thumbs across her cheeks to dry them from her tears. Leaning in slowly, Aidan found her lips and caught them in a soft kiss, one of his hands fell away from her face and kept a firm hold on her side as Paige ran her hands across his chiseled abdomen before linking her arms around his neck and pushing him gently towards the bed.

* * *

Phoebe stared at the clock on the table next to the sofa, it was just past two in the morning and Connor still seemed to be wide awake. She had been sitting with him for an hour and he had just contented himself with playing on the floor with his trains. The middle Charmed One yawned and grabbed the scrunchie on the sofa, putting her long hair into a ponytail before grinning at her son.

"You know, if Daddy catches us up at this time, he's going to get awful annoyed that he missed this," Connor smiled up at her and continued to play with his toys. Phoebe grinned back and got down on the floor, crawling across it and playing with a spare train. She looked up at her son's face and stroked the back of his head lovingly, "I'll never leave you, okay?" She got back up on her knees and picked Connor up, holding him close and kissing his forehead, "I love you sweetie,"

Creaking of the stairs made Phoebe turn her head to see Brennan walking down in a t-shirt and boxers, scratching the back of his head and yawning, "Hey…" He looked at them through bleary eyes, "What are you two doing up?"

Phoebe sighed and stood up with Connor, "Little man…" She ruffled his messy black hair, "Hasn't slept a wink and doesn't seem too bothered about it. I brought him down here to play and see if it made him tired."

"I can see that plan backfired." Brennan moved closer and put his arm around her hip, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, why?" She smiled at him, but her husband gave her a look that made her cave, "Alright…" She said reluctantly, "You know when we were trying to find the Fire Elemental, and I had to go onto that ship?"

"Yeah, what about it?" He moved a little closer, rubbing her back in a comforting manner.

"Something happened." She looked up at him then decided to keep eye contact with Connor instead, "This demon had me pinned, and was about to finish me. But then… I felt as if I was being… electrocuted. The next thing I know I'm standing up, the demon's dead and I've shorted out the ship's engine with lightning from my eyes,"

"What?" Brennan frowned at her, "Why didn't you tell me before now?"

"Because there's another part that I haven't wanted to admit to myself, let alone anyone else… When it happened, I felt this extremely powerful presence."

"You think you were possessed?"

She shook her head slightly, "It's more than that. It was as if I had a connection with whatever took me over, there were a lot of feelings floating around and I've only figured it out recently. The connection we had was Connor." Brennan remained silent, "I think… I think it wanted to take Connor away from us. Brennan, I… I would just stop breathing if we lost him, I can't handle that and I doubt you can either,"

The mutant let out a sigh and pulled his wife and son into a hug. He kissed Phoebe delicately on the lips then inhaled the scent of her hair as he hugged her, "I promise you, _no one_ will ever take our son away from us. They would need to kill us before we that happen, and I mean really kill us, we could still kick ass as spirits."

Phoebe laughed slightly at his attempt to cheer her up, "But…"

"Phoebe, he has us, his big cousins, his aunts, not to mention Emma, Leo… None of them would let him be taken away from us." He reassured her.

If anyone were to look into the front of the Mulwray family's house at that moment, they would have seen a happy family that seemed to have life figured out, that they couldn't be happier. The three of them enjoying each other's company as Connor played with his trains was bliss for them, nothing could destroy it. Absolutely nothing.

But nothing was on its way.

Heh, I do love foreshadowing. Unfortunately for you lot, I'm keeping the secret of Phoebe's possession until the VERY LAST CHAPTER!

**NEXT TIME:** Pamela and Emma fight to the death when more of their pasts are revealed. Phoebe regains one of her powers while Brennan deals with the neighbour's daughter, who seems to have taken an interest in him. Katrina makes an assault on Piper and Leo while Paige endlessly searches the Underworld for the grimlock that took Aidan's sight, but her search only lands her in peril…

Chapter 29 will be up soon.


	29. Power Of Three Spirits

Charmed greek – Thanks!

Phoebe turner – Thanks! This is sorta a Pam chapter.

Chyp – Yeah, shes going after it now. Thanks!

Prince Halliwell – Heh… Here's your reply! I'm planning more kid bits! Lol, I couldn't resist the pimping line! Yeah, 40 chapters as far as I know! Yeah, you'll need to wait all that time to see what's up with Phoebe! And yeah, I'm okay with you doing that crossover!

Loz – I'm really glad you like Connor so much, he gets a little bit at the end of this chapter. Thanks!

Princess Pinky – Heh… There's a funny Arc bit at the start of this. I've always thought Jenna's a lot like Pam, so I thought of something that Pam would do. Glad you lied the Paige/Aidan! This chapter was meant to be a fluff so I;m glad you enjoyed it! And Atharia's warning is in this chapter. Did the whole hyperlinking thing work out for you?

**Power Of Three Spirits**

_Edinburgh, Scotland, 1644_

The carriage rocked and swayed as it passed over the unstable path. A large cloak was hung over it, as if to hide what was traveling inside. The horse that was pulling the carriage snorted, its breath floated up from its nostrils like steam on the cold winter night while its hooves left prints in the light smattering of snow on the ground. Bringing his whip down on the horse and urging it to go faster, the man who was in charge smirked and shouted back to whoever was in the carriage.

"Not long now!" He shouted, chuckling malevolently before rubbing his leg, attempting to warm up.

A cloaked person was down on their knees in the darkened carriage. It was almost like a cage, and the moonlight had been sealed off by the giant sheet that covered it. The girl had something clasped in her hands, she was murmuring a Latin chant that only she could, invoking powers never thought to exist. A white hot glow shone through the spaces in her hands, making the girl open them up to reveal what she was holding. It was a silver necklace in the shape of a pair of wings, one of the wings was feathery and that of an angel, while the other had bumps in it, showing that it was bony and skeletal, a devil's wing.

The girl smirked to herself, only the bottom part of her face visible as she got up and walked to the side of her prison. She dropped the necklace out of one of the many holes in the carriage, making it fall from the transport and land at the side of the road, lying in the snow. She turned around and gasped when a redheaded woman, scantily clad in gold, was standing in front of her.

Goosebumps immediately appeared on the many parts of the woman's exposed flesh, "How have you managed to survive here in such harsh climates?"

"Did you get Charlotte to safety?" The cloaked girl asked, ignoring the question.

"Yes, but not in the way you intended." She replied.

The girl whipped her head around, making her hood fall and revealing that she looked exactly like the present day Pamela Walker, "What you do mean, Atharia? We had an agreement; my child shall be safe in your land."

"I couldn't house her, Prudence. It would have caused too much suspicion, my reputation and trust with the Pharaoh is beginning to wane. Keeping your child would have sealed my fate, along with hers."

"Where have you taken her?" Prudence asked urgently.

"She is on a ship to the Americas. Her safety is insured there."

"Do you mean to jest?" Prudence gave her a murderous look, "She will be killed! Charlotte won't grow up to know not to use her powers!"

Atharia looked offended, "I shall not let that happen, I promise,"

"Liar." She growled back, "Get out of my sight,"

Atharia narrowed her eyes, "Careful Prudence. I'm the only one who can ensure your child's safety; you'd do best not to anger me."

"Leave! And I swear to you, I shall have revenge on your heir for your betrayal." The sorceress gave her a shocked look, "Yes, how long did you think it would take for me to see through your charade? I know it was you who condemned me to the pyre."

"You were not fit to be that child's mother at such a young age. I did what I saw fit to protect Charlotte, she has been my concern from the start."

"And I supposed it's you I should blame for the loss of my powers?" The carriage came to a sudden stop, Prudence smirked, "No matter, even without them I was able to create an escape route. Amazing how powerful the old magicks are."

"You didn't-,"

"You better make yourself scarce." Prudence's smile grew, "Wouldn't want to be burned with me, now would you?"

Atharia but her lip, glowering at the soon to be burned witch before disappearing in a shimmer of gold sand. Prudence turned towards the back of the cage, know that that was where it going to open. The sheet was suddenly ripped away, revealing a screaming mob outside, wielding axes, maces, swords, and torches.

"Burn the witch!"

"Send her to Hell!"

"Kill!"

But the brown haired girl kept a neutral face as she pulled her hood back up, waiting for the cage to be opened until she strode out proudly, ready to accept her fate with a smile.

* * *

_Present Day_

Pamela awoke with a groan as she realized it was morning, but a strong arm was wrapped around her waist and it kept her from getting up. The witch smiled to herself, remembering the events of last night and turning round to see Zach sleeping soundly next to her.

Last night had been their first time.

Laying back down in the opposite direction, she brushed some of her boyfriend's hair away from his eyes, causing a smile to appear on the telepath's face even in deep sleep. Moving in a little closer, Pamela planted a soft kiss in his lips. She held back a laugh as he began to return it during his waking up.

She pulled back and he let out a moan, "Now that's a wake up call!"

"Uh huh," Pamela playfully slapped him on the shoulder, "Morning…" She greeted him before wrapping herself up in a sheet and sitting on the side of the bed.

"Whoa, nice tattoo…" Zach suddenly blurted out. She turned around to look at him and saw that the sheet dipped enough to expose her lower back, where there was a tattoo of her personal symbol, the chaos wing. One wing was angelic, surrounded with twinkles that seemed to sparkle, even though it was done in black ink. The other side was like a bat's wing, thin and spindly and almost skeletal.

He traced the outline of the tattoo delicately with the back of his hand, "How long have you had this?"

She smiled at him, "The only way you wouldn't have noticed it before now is if you had never tried to sneak a peek at my ass. How chivalrous of you," She leaned back in and kissed him.

"Oh, that reminds me…" Zach reached down on his side of the bed and pulled up his jeans, fishing into the pocket for something, "I got you this," He brought his hand out of the pocket and held his clenched fist in front of her.

Pamela pried it open and gasped with delight when she saw a necklace with a silver pendant of the chaos wing. She took it by the chain gently, holding it up to the light.

"Oh my God… It's beautiful,"

"I remember you mentioning to me that you loved that symbol for some reason, I mean, hell, you modeled Arc's wings on it! Speaking of which, where is he? Doesn't he usually take permanent refuge in your room?"

Pamela nodded, lowering the necklace to the bed, "Yeah, but he hunts for food during the night." Zach raised an eyebrow at her, "Hey, he may be made of stone but he's a living creature that needs all the things to need to survive. Besides, he eats mice and rats, he's doing the whole city a favour." She looked towards the window with a look of horror, "Aw… crap! He's gonna be-!"

She didn't get to finish her sentence, as a whistle of air indicated Arc barreling into the room through the open window. It took the gargoyle a few seconds to figure out what was going on as he sat on top of the closet, his stone eyes widened.

"You and Master Lockhart…?" He said in disbelief.

"Yes, get out!" Pamela pointed towards the window while Arc began to babble as he flew away slowly.

"Terribly sorry, didn't mean to… "He perched himself on the outside window ledge, "Never happen again… Sincere apol- AH!" The gargoyle began to flail his arms wildly before losing his balance and falling off the ledge. Pamela heard an "Oof!" As Arc landed in a bush in the back garden.

The witch began to laugh before placing her hand on Zach's chest; you better go before he…" Her eyes shifted towards the window, "Wakes up my aunt and uncle,"

"Alright," The telepath replied reluctantly, sitting at the edge of the bed and pulling his jeans, standing up to pull the up the zipper.

"Here's your t-shirt," Pamela made a saucy smirk, throwing him the garment.

Zach grinned back in a similar fashion as he pulled it on, "Thanks," He walked around the bed and sat beside her, "I'll see you later," He kissed her softly, cupping her cheek before getting up and opening the door slowly, not disturbing anyone who was asleep.

Pamela smiled at her new necklace, making sure that the end of the sheet was tucked in so it would stay secure around her body; she picked it up with both hands and put it round her neck, latching it then looking in the mirror. As she looked towards it, a flash of fire and a woman appeared on the mirror. Pamela jumped slightly and peered at the mirror, all she saw was herself.

"What the…" She laid her hand on the necklace, wincing and pulling her hand away when it seemed the metal was searing hot. Pamela looked down at the necklace just in time to see it give off a harsh white light. Her head suddenly jutted back and her whole body was bathed in the white hot glow, a strong wind blew back her hair as she struggled to take in breathes, keeping her eyes clamped shut.

The light began to fade and Pamela brought her head forward. She kept her eyes closed as her hair settled back from the breeze that had been conjured. A smirk appeared on her face and she opened her eyes to reveal the same white light that had enveloped her. The shimmer faded from her eyes and she looked around with curiosity, not fear.

"I have arrived…" She whispered to herself, her smirk turning into a grin.

* * *

Piper had a look of sheer determination on her face. She had to do this no matter how scared she was, she would prove to everyone that she could do this. The Halliwell witch looked at the door of kitchen, making sure no one was there in case she failed. Grabbing the handle roughly, she jutted it upwards, keeping an eye on it as it flew into the air. Piper maneuvered the pan just right and…

Caught the pancake.

"Heh… Still got it," She looked up, "Did you see that, stains on the ceiling? I can do it after all!" She yelled to the circular shaped stains of grease on the ceiling.

A haze of blue on the other side of the counter got stronger as orbs began to appear. There was a flash and Paige appeared with an abnormally large grin on her face. Piper gave her a strange look immediately.

"What are you doing here?" She frowned at the youngest Charmed One.

Paige shrugged, "Can't I come by and see my sister?" Piper raised an eyebrow, getting the truth from her, "Alright, I can't be bothered cooking. Feed me." She ordered, walking over to the cupboard and getting down a plate.

"There's something up with you…" The eldest narrowed her eyes.

She snorted in response, "There's nothing. Load me up," Was her reply, holding out the plate. Piper gave her another weird look before piling pancakes onto Paige's plate. The witchlighter took one bite and grimaced slightly, "You got any chocolate sauce?"

Her sister immediately stopped what she was going and grinned, "That's it!" Piper announced, pointing at Paige, "Post sex glow! Your craving for chocolate confirms it! You always want chocolate after sex!" She beamed at her sister, remembering that little fact from when they had played games to get to know each other better when Paige first came into their lives.

Paige blinked a few times, flabbergasted, "Beg your pardon?"

"Let's see… The barbeque last night, I don't really see you as a one night stand person. So that leaves only one man, who just happens to live in your apartment!" Piper squealed and clapped her hands, "You and Aidan, together again? Details please,"

Paige stabbed a few of the pancakes with her fork, "It was… good," But she soon let out a sigh and rolled her eyes, "Who am I kidding? It was fantastic! I don't know if it's because he's blind, but… he just knew my body, what buttons to press…" Her eyes glazed over again, "It was the most, sensual, intense, passionate… experience of my life. And it wasn't just sex, it was like our two souls became one and-,"

Piper's eyes widened as she looked to the kitchen door, "Chris! Sweetie, want some pancakes?" She grinned at her son before shooting a look at Paige, who shrugged.

"Hey, you're the one who wanted details."

"But not in the presence of my four year old." Piper hissed. "You want some pancakes, honey?"

Chris beamed as he climbed up onto the stool, "Can I have mine with chocolate sauce?"

Paige gave her sister a look, "Aren't you going to accuse _him_ of nocturnal activities?"

* * *

Pamela did another twirl in her mirror, giggling slightly as she admired her outfit. She ran a hand down the denim skirt that stopped halfway down her thigh before adjusting her strapless top that had a dip in the centre, perfect for the chaos wing amulet that hung from her neck. She picked up the golden heart locket that she had received from a good friend and put it round her neck, seeing if it would match with hat she had on. The locket suddenly began to glow, signaling its use, but she just snorted at it and ripped the chain off her neck, throwing it back on the bed before twirling in the mirror again.

"Women's garments are so brazen in this century…" She grinned to herself before grabbing the leather jacket at the desk chair and walking out the room. "Sigillum…" She whispered, gesturing at the bedroom door from the outside and making a white hot glow pass over it.

"Hey," Pamela jumped to see Leo standing there, already dressed after being a communing, "Morning,"

Pamela's eyes shifted back and forth at her uncle as if he was a stranger, "Good morning…" She replied with a thick Scottish accent, earning a look from Leo.

Luckily, he was distracted by Emma coming down the stairs with the Book of Shadows in her arms. Pamela's eyes widened with fury as she saw the empath smiling with the tome under her arm, walking towards them.

"Wow…" She smirked to Pamela, "What are you doing up this early?"

The teen narrowed her eyes, "You…" She growled low enough so no one would hear her.

"What are you doing with the book?" Leo asked with curiosity.

"Oh, I'm just going to delve into my work, find some potions to do with my classes…" She said meekly, shifting the Book of Shadows slightly so that the triquetra was visible to Pamela, whose jaw dropped.

"You shall not go anywhere with my book!" She suddenly blurted out, making a violent gesture with her hand. Emma looked down and saw that the book was no longer under her arm, but in the hands of Pamela.

"Pam, how did you do that instantaneously?" Emma gave her a stern look, beginning to scan her with her telempathy.

"Pamela is no longer in control of this body. Porta!" She screamed, gesturing towards Emma and making the psionic soar across the hall and smash into the cabinet next to the wall. Leo gave his niece a murderous look, raising his hands and preparing to attack the body snatcher.

A demon shimmered in at the base of the attic steps. It was covered in grey scales and had a thick tar like substance dripping from its large mouth. Wild black hair covered its animalistic skull as it made a dash for Leo, only to be blasted back from an attack by Piper, who had arrived with Paige.

"What the hell?" Piper cringed at the beast, flicking out her hands and blasting it again.

"Plant pot!" Paige shouted, the large plant pot in the corner orbed out, making all the soil and the fichus fall to the floor as a cloud of orbs flew towards the demon. They dispersed as the pot smashed into the demon's head, making him roar with a mixture of rage and pain.

Pamela rolled her eyes, "Is this what witches have become in this time?" She let out a chuckle, "Poor fools," She looked at her aunts, "You know not the full potential of witchcraft."

"Pam, what are talking about?" Piper asked, temporarily distracted by her niece's strange words.

The demon, taking advantage of the situation, leaped up onto the ceiling and spat a stream of the black tar substance at Leo. The elder prepared to orb out but the black goo hit his face and he screamed in pain, dropping to his knees and trying to avoid putting his hands on his face.

"Terminus!" Pamela bellowed, pointing a finger towards the demon. The spell ripped it apart instantly, leaving a mass of black tar to stream out in all directions. Piper, realizing what it really was, managed to push Paige to the ground before she was hit.

"Your welcome. Abige!" She gestured into the air. Flashes of white light blinded the Charmed Ones momentarily as Pamela disappeared, leaving a knocked out Emma and a dying Leo in her wake.

* * *

Piper let out a tired sigh as she wiped the last of black goo of Leo's face. His skin had turned a horrible grey colour. The Charmed One wanted to comfort him, to put her hand on his face and tell him that he was going to be okay, but she was afraid that somehow, the poison would spread to her.

"I think we're dealing with Katrina." Phoebe announced as she walked into Piper's room, "But without the book, we can't be sure."

"Where's Paige?" The eldest whispered.

"She went down to the Underworld with Brennan. I might as well get him away from the whore next door…" Phoebe grumbled, thanking of Mrs. Hunter's daughter who had been constantly hitting on her husband. "Not to mention she gets to kill some grimlocks too,"

Piper dabbed Leo's forehead with a fresh cloth, the other covered in black goo, "I can't lose him, Phoebe… Since when did demons spit out gallons of darklighter poison?"

"That's why I think we're dealing with Katrina. She made a hybrid from Emma and Grant, why not two demons?"

Before Piper could answer, Emma orbed into the room in a rosy pink haze, along with all six kids that belonged to the respective parent.

"Why didn't you take them to Magic School?" Piper stood up and subtly covered up Leo's colour drained face. She didn't want Wyatt or Chris to see this.

"Because Pamela's there, and wreaking havoc. It only took her a couple Latin words to bring the library down!" Emma exclaimed, ushering Piper's sons out of the bedroom so the three women could talk.

"How did this even start? What is she possessed by?" Phoebe exclaimed with her arms crossed.

"Prudence Warren. The true beginning of our line." A familiar voice said.

Piper frowned slightly, "Melinda?"

Lights swirled at the bottom of the bed. A woman's form began to appear through the light as Melinda Warren appeared, taking a deep breath as she corporealised. It took a lot of energy to come here on your own power, "It is good to see you again…"

"Yeah, yeah, what were you saying?" Piper urged their ancestor, earning her a small kick in the shin from Phoebe.

"That's perfectly alright, Phoebe. I understand the urgency of your situation." She sat down on the edge of the bed, "In the mid 17th Century, a young witch named Prudence Warren was burned at the stake in Scotland, but not only for being a witch, but for giving birth to a child at the age of eighteen."

"The child was safe," Emma suddenly blurted out, making everyone stare at her. The psionic blinked a few times, "I'm sorry, I don't know where that came from…" She frowned slightly, as if remembering something important.

"You are right. Prudence entrusted her child to an Egyptian sorceress, she was to raise the child and keep her safe so that she wouldn't be found and persecuted for her true mother's crimes. But the sorceress betrayed the witch, sending the baby on a ship to the New World. Prudence learned of this betrayal and swore vengeance on the sorceress's future lives, rumour has it that she created a powerful amulet before her death, one that would transfer her spirit to her future life, where she would get her revenge."

"Atharia…" Emma suddenly whispered, realizing that was why Pamela had been so angry with her this morning.

"What can we do?" Piper asked.

"You stay here and tend to your love." Melinda smiled warmly at her, "I shall make a potion to purge him of the poison while Emma and Phoebe confront Prudence."

"What?" Phoebe gaped, "What can I do? I don't any active powers,"

"And you won't get them back until you lose that attitude. You're not as weak as you think you are Phoebe," The blonde advised with a motherly tone.

"But still, Prudence is extremely powerful. I don't think our usual routine is going to be enough," Emma looked at her shoes with sadness.

"Perhaps not, but someone else's might," Melinda replied with a grin.

The tone in which she had said it made Emma and Phoebe look at other with puzzled expressions before looking back at Melinda, who obviously had a plan. Everyone's silence was suddenly broken by a shout from Aidan downstairs. Everyone but Piper began their way down to see what all the fuss was about.

"I have pupils!" Aidan beamed at the three women coming down the stairs, "I can see!" He pointed to his eyes before bursting out into delirious laughter, "Where are my girls? I wanna see my girls,"

They're upstairs in the boy's room. Piper's looking after them," Phoebe smirked, holding back her laughter.

"Alright, I will _see_…" He pointed to his eyes, "you all later!" And with that he bounded up the stairs, eager to lay his eyes on the twins he had missed so much. Phoebe and Melinda smiled as they watched him.

"I take it he is the father is Paige's children?" The ancestor asked, having not met Aidan last time.

"Yeah," Emma grinned at her, before her expression grew dark, "Where's Paige?"

* * *

Paige clamped her eyes shut again, turning into a cloud of orbs and flying at the side of the cage. An orange force field glowed on the metal before the orbs flew back to the floor, making the witchlighter land with a thud. Brennan bit his lip before swirling around his hands, blasting the bars with as much electricity as he could muster before groaning with exhaustion and falling to the floor.

"Save your watts, we're not getting out of here," Paige said with a roll of her eyes.

The mutant let out a sigh, "Damn!" He jutted out a leg, kicking the side and making the suspended cage quiver.

"Stop it!" Paige hissed in response, "Do you want to fall down into that?" She nodded downwards through the glass floor. Brennan stared down at the hordes of demons underneath them. He couldn't believe how many there were! Thousands of them roaring battle chants as they raised their weapons, the noise was deafening.

"Careful you two, wouldn't want to fall." Katrina said as a ghostly image of the redhead appeared in the cage. Paige's first reaction was to lunge at the apparition and to pound her face in, but Brennan grabbed her shoulder to stop her from making a fool of herself.

"What a nasty temper you have, Paige. Can't see why Aidan went for you, he did have his sight back then, didn't he?" She smirked, "Although now he's got his eyes back he'll be able to see what a mistake he's made."

The youngest Charmed One grinned before Brennan turned to her, "It must have been that last grimlock we got being put in here," Paige could only nod at him before giving Katrina a fierce look.

"He'll come for me; all of them will come for us…" She growled.

The Seer let out a cackle, "Right, and do you do a couple of witches and assorted magical beings being able to beat all of them?" She glanced down at the army, "The Nameless One will kill you all, and then he'll take the upper world with the same army that killed you."

"You'd think he'd come up with a catchier name for himself," Paige quipped.

"His true name gives him power. He shall never reveal it," She looked up, as if hearing something, "Gotta go guys, make yourselves comfortable!" Katrina taunted before fading away.

* * *

Pamela sat cross legged on the floor of the Great Hall, pouring herself over an old book while rolling the chaos wing pendant in her fingers. She suddenly began to laugh and she held the book up high. On the page she was rejoicing about, there was a large Celtic symbol.

"I've found you…" She cackled, grinning as she stood up.

"This stops now, Prudence." Emma announced as she and Phoebe walked into the hall. There was something about Emma that Prudence recognized even more than usual, it was familiar.

Prudence let out a chuckle, "What makes you think you can stop me?" She glanced at the masses of books she had taken from the destroyed library, "Incede!" She yelled, bringing her hands in front of her chest as all the books began to float up into the air. The witch throw out her arms towards Emma and Phoebe and all the books followed, flying towards the two witches and ready to barrage them.

Emma focused her eyes on the immediate books and a globe of searing psionic heat flew from her forehead, hitting the book and making it fall to the floor in a burning heap. A sudden heat wave passed through the room, burning every single book that was floating, apart from the Book of Shadows and the one that Prudence had under her arm.

The colour drained from Prudence's face, "Atharia…" She murmured.

"I warned my future life about you…" Emma growled, chanting in Egyptian and making the Book of Shadows fly towards Phoebe, who grabbed it with a smile.

"No!" Prudence raised her hand and blasted a shot of white fire towards the middle Charmed One. Phoebe gasped and scrunched up her eyes, waiting for the burn to come. Unbeknownst to Phoebe, the triquetra on the cover of the book began to glow and she slowly floated up into the air. The golden flames flew underneath her, hitting the marble pillar and leaving a small scorch.

"I'm levitating…" The witch uttered in disbelief.

"The book protected her…" Prudence lowered her hands, staring at Phoebe.

"She is your descendant. The book is bound to her just as much as it is to you," Atharia glowered, watching as Phoebe took control of her acquired power and slowed her descent. "Phoebe, get out of here…" She whispered.

The Halliwell took one look at the murderous stare on her possessed niece's face before running down the hall with the tome under her arm.

Prudence wordlessly outstretched her arm to the side, summoning a long sword from a suit of armour in the hall. She held it with both hands after it floated towards her, chanting softly with her eyes closed, "Gero abyssus flamma…" She whispered, activating the spell and making the sword glow white hot. Spinning around on her right foot, Prudence gathered speed and threw the weapon towards her foe.

Atharia concentrated and conjured a psionic heat blast, throwing it towards the sword with her mind. Her intention was for it to warp and fall to the ground, but as the heat hit the sword, it glowed a white colour before lodging itself in her side.

"Your arrogance in your powers was always what led to your downfall…" Prudence hissed walking towards the dying sorceress and wrenching the sword from her gut and pulling it out in front of her, "Purgo," She said, making the blood clear from the sword before began her hunt for Phoebe………

Phoebe ran down the corridor as fast as she could. She wasn't that far away from the door that opened to anywhere; she would be safe as long as she made it back to Manor. Clutching the Book of Shadows desperately, she looked back to see if she was being tailed.

"Looking for me?" A voice said, making her jump. Phoebe turned around and saw Prudence standing in front of her, sword at her side.

"Why are you doing this?" Phoebe asked, edging back slightly, "I'm your descendant!"

"You are also the only thing that stands between me and ultimate power." She replied, walking closer and raising the sword at the same time, "And in front of me is not a wise place to stand,"

Looking around for anything, Phoebe laid the book down on an antique unit and smacked the hilt of a sword that was hung on the wall, making it fall off and land in her hands. Deciding not to be a sitting duck, Phoebe jumped forward and activated her levitation power, almost flying towards Prudence with her sword out ready, read to kill.

The 17th Century witch blocked masterfully, spinning the sword around her head and attempting to bring it down on Phoebe, who parried nervously as she was forced back by her ancestor's numerous blows. Prudence continued the onslaught, jumping up slightly and spinning around, swinging her sword down in a diagonal direction and missing as Phoebe ducked and attempted to sweep her legs, the teen jumped swiftly and raised her sword above her head, bringing it down onto Phoebe's sword as she crouched, making it an awkward position to block from.

"It's over…" She smirked, applying more pressure to her push and waiting for Phoebe to fall.

The Halliwell winced as a shooting pain in her arm appeared, trying to hold off as her back was pushed to the ground. Phoebe took deep breathes as her arm was about to give way, she would drop her sword and Prudence weapon would come down on her chest.

Suddenly, a familiar electrifying glow lit up Phoebe's eyes. She gasped as another power took control of her body, that was her last action before losing the reins. The middle witch smirked as she dropped her sword and threw her hand into Prudence's stomach, shoving her into the air with supernatural strength and getting back to her feet.

Prudence gritted her teeth and did a professional flip in the air, righting herself before landing crumpled on the floor. She landed delicately on her feet and spun her head around to face the alien force.

"What are you?" She asked.

Phoebe didn't answer; instead, she raised her hand and fired a blast of lightning towards her enemy. Prudence's eyes widened and she jumped into the air, spinning rapidly and hugging her chest so she would turn easier. The Halliwell raised her hand, trying to hit her foe with the lightning pulsing from her palm; she continued to give Prudence a look of fierce rage and bared her teeth.

"You shall die!" She said in a torn voice, raising her hand again.

But before she could react, water began to crawl up from the floor and take on the form of Aidan and Emma, who seemed to be fully healed thanks to the Elemental. Knowing he had to act fast, Aidan yanked the potion from his pocket and threw it down on the floor. It shattered, sending a dome of energy out from the point and going through Emma, Phoebe and Pamela.

"NO!" Prudence screamed as she felt the potion rip her soul from the body, a white glow signified that she had left as Pamela fell to the floor.

The harsh neon blue in Phoebe's eyes faded as the spirit left her with a blue flash from her body, leaving her to take deep breathes and struggling to stay standing.

Emma had the most peaceful exorcism as a golden glow flew from her body and soared skywards, leaving the empath with a smile on her face.

"What did that potion do?" Aidan asked Emma, she had been the one who made just in case their plan hadn't worked.

"It acted like an ionization field, but instead of taking out all electric things, it took out all spiritual intruders," She explained, smiling that she had the memory of her time of possession.

"Pam?" Phoebe gently shook her niece, "Wake up,"

The teen groaned as she tried to lift her head, "Ugh… Am I hungover?" She asked, sitting up and grimacing at her clothes, "Oh God, why am I wearing this?" She pinched the denim skirt.

Her aunt smiled at her, "She's back…"

* * *

Phoebe, Emma, Pamela and Aidan walked into Piper's room to find Leo just recovered from the potion that Melinda had just given him. He held his stomach a little as the colour returned to his face. Piper jumped on him immediately, kissing him like there was no tomorrow.

"I'd best be off…" Melinda said with a smile, "You're lucky it wasn't true darklighter poison, or I wouldn't have been able to cure you with a potion!" She warned Leo.

"Thanks," He whispered gratefully, kissing the top of Piper's head as she hugged him.

The blonde turned to everyone, "Blessed be…" She said, before disappearing in a swirl of lights. Phoebe came back into the room after picking up Connor from the boy's room. She hoisted him up onto her hip and kissed his cheek, holding him close.

"Daddy…" He said quietly, making Phoebe remember and cursing herself for forgetting.

Where were Brennan and Paige?

* * *

Sorry, no spoilers today! It's a surprise! Chapter 30 should be up soon! 


	30. The End Of An Empath

_Chyp_ – Thanks!

_Phoebe turner_ – Heh… Read to find out!

_Piperfairy_ – Lol, nope! She's wasn't! And Pamela is around 18 years old.

_Prince Halliwell_ – I'm glad you liked all of it! And yeah, I'll probably be getting a lot of nasty reviews for this chapter.

_Ravenix_ – Yeah, I thought that since it was her psychic powers that made her go crazy in the first place, the least psychic power should be the one she got back. And there's a list of characters, their ages and powers in the first chapter of this fic, just add on Paige's multi dimensional sight and Emma's psychokinesis.

_Loz_ – Yeah, there's quite a lot of battles in this chapter too! Ha, you noticed the little Julian reference? Cool, thanks for reviewing!

**The End Of An Empath**

Piper waved her arms about to clear the smoke that had just erupted from the potion Emma was making. She coughed slightly as the psionic robotically picked up another herb and threw it into the mixture, causing another plume of smoke to rise with a bang.

"Would you give it a rest, woman?" Piper exclaimed, yanking the next herb out of Emma's hand, "Do you even know what you're doing?"

"Piper, I'm the head of the potions department! Of course I know that I'm doing!" She snatched the herb back from her friend and threw it into the pot. Lorna's cries began to come through the baby monitor that was sitting on the table, Emma glanced at it briefly, "Call me back up here with blue smoke starts to appear." She ordered, wiping her hands together and going down the attic steps, brushing Phoebe's shoulder as she came the opposite way.

"Wow, warpath much?" Phoebe cringed, looking back the way she came.

"More like empath. She can't handle high pressure situations even without feeling everyone else's worry," Piper explained, having lived with Emma for close to three years, she knew how the redhead worked.

"Aidan's taken the kids to Magic School," The middle sister informed.

"Did he just forget about Lorna?"

"No, Emma's orders. She's to stay here,"

Piper put down the jar of scarab horns, "Are you kidding me? This place is probably going to be in the thick of a demon battle and she wants her kid to be in the middle of it? Lorna could get killed!"

"She knows that…" Phoebe shrugged, "But she is not for turning,"

"This is ridiculous…" The Charmed One growled in response, "I'm gonna go talk to her," She clapped her hands together in a similar fashion to Emma before pointing at Phoebe, "Call when it starts to smoke blue."

"Why? What happens then?"

Piper shrugged, "Ask Emma,"

* * *

Aidan let out a long sigh as he rubbed his forehead, wincing as he nursed his headache. He brought his away and smiled when he saw Melinda reaching up from the floor to be in his arms. The elemental picked his daughter, playing with her mousy blonde locks and making her giggle, but it wasn't long before Emma splashed out from the floor and joined her twin sister on Aidan's lap.

"I can see they're going to be a couple of daddy's girls." Leo smiled as he walked into the nursery, sitting down in the large armchair across from Aidan. He picked up Connor and sat him on his lap, the one year old had been in distress ever since his father had disappeared, so he had needed to be calmed down now and again.

"I can't believe they're almost one year old," Aidan marveled at the children sitting with him, "I'll never forget the moment I realized they were mine."

Leo grinned, "Well, a kid using one of your powers to transport into your arms is sort of a give away!" He picked at the knee of his jeans slightly, "Do you regret what happened with Paige? When you left?"

"Every day." He replied immediately, "I was so self destructive. I would punch mirrors; use my powers on servants… But after a while I just began to accept that Atlantis was my place. Then Pamela summoned me to help take down Phoebe, all those feelings just came rushing back."

"Are you going to get back together? I mean, from what you told me about last night, it was pretty intense," The elder asked his friend. They had, after all, been friends before Aidan had left so they trusted each other with their secrets.

"I don't think so man." He put down both the girls when they started reaching for toys on the floor, "We both know that we can't be together, but something was just… triggered last night. I don't know what to do…" The elemental sighed, going back to rubbing his head.

"I can see why you've got headache." The Elder replied as he put Connor back down with his trains.

The men sat in silence until a faint screech came to their ears. They frowned at each other and got up, still trying to figure out where the noise was coming from. A faint red light began to shimmer in between Leo and Aidan; it eventually grew stronger until Paige was standing in its place.

"Huh… It worked!" She grinned to herself.

"Paige? Where are you?" Leo asked urgently, he was about to ask more when Emma began to reach for Paige, who melted at her daughter's woe.

"Later sweetie, when mommy's not a projection," She assured her, looking back up to face her brother in law, "Me and Brennan are trapped in some cage with a force field round it," Paige was about to continue, until she gasped and her body flashed crimson, "Damn…"

"Is the force field pulling your astral self back?" Aidan asked, putting his hand on hers, but she pulled away with a bashful smile.

"Yeah, I think so. All I know is that we're close to Katrina's lair. But don't come for us, we're guarded by thousands of demons. Literally." She emphasized.

Leo's eyes widened, "He's created an army?" She nodded, "Paige, we'll get you out. I'll go tell Piper," He looked up slightly before being lifted into a cloud of orbs.

Paige turned to her ex, "Look, Aidan-,"

But she was cut off, he put his hand up, "You don't need to say it. Last night shouldn't have happened… it can't happen, we just got carried away,"

The witchlighter smiled weakly, "Yeah…" She replied, before being consumed in a red ruby light and disappearing.

* * *

Katrina blinked as her eyes returned from being blank white; she smirked across her large cauldron to where the Nameless One was standing with an impatient look on his face. He had his hands on the side of the cauldron, pulling at it slightly.

"She astral projected to them, just as I foresaw." She smirked, walking towards a pedestal that had a bloodied athame atop it. The Seer picked it up carefully, as if to respect the power that a magical being's blood held.

"Will your ritual be complete in time? She needs her powers drained or she won't be able to die," He asked pacing around the bubbling cauldron, "We need to take out the empath tonight or we'll never get the child."

She glared at him, "She needed to establish a connection with the mother before we could take her. If we had taken Lorna from birth, you probably would have killed her in frustration over her cries."

"You know me so well…" He narrowed his eyes at her.

She smirked, "I can imagine that your parenting skills need refining. I'll take care of the child, since I doubt you have the patience for an infant."

"And this little vendetta you're planning, it wouldn't have anything to do with the water elemental rejecting you, would it?" He smirked, "You're only half demon so things like that may bother you…"

Katrina cocked her head slightly, "If I can't have Aidan's children, then I'll take his whore's best friend's…" She raised the athame over the cauldron, swinging it teasingly, "I'm glad I kept this after using it in the conjuring potion. I can use it again to take away her powers," She looked up to the uber-powerful demon, "Then she'll be yours for the taking,"

* * *

Emma stroked Lorna's head as she put her down in the playpen; the little elemental wasn't sleeping so Emma had decided to bring her up to the attic where she could keep an eye on her and make more potions at the same time. Pamela stormed into the room with a bottle of water, angrily twisting the cap before starting on her roommate.

"Why the hell are there pots of potions in the freezer?" She demanded, "I put this water in to make it extra cold and I find it dumped on the floor!"

"You can never have too many potions…" The empathy replied absentmindedly as she filled another vial. She walked over to another table that had something covered with a sheet on it, Emma yanked the sheet off to reveal a sea of vials, each filled with a different potion. She added her new one to the collection and put the sheet back over it.

"If Chris was to come up here and have an accident with his exploding power, that table would be responsible for blowing up the entire state!" Pamela spat at her, pointing a finger at the table as she shrilled.

"It will also be responsible for vanquishing the Nameless One, and I'd think you would want that seeing as how he put you in a coma!"

"Of course I want that! Ugh… You really are impossible to talk to when you're like this!" Pamela spat, before turning on her heel and stomping out of the attic, grabbing her bottle of water from the table on the way out, but the footsteps got louder as she came back, "Oh, and another thing, clean up the damn ingredients you've left all over the kitchen! It smells like Noah's ark crawled in there and died!" It was then she left, muttering things about empaths and PMS.

Emma sighed and ran a hand through her auburn hair, closing her eyes and trying to suppress the emotions that were almost screaming in her ears. She put her hands over her face in a weak attempt to block out the world. When realizing that wouldn't work, Emma brought her hands away from her face, only to be looking at something completely different.

She was not in the attic anymore.

Instead she was surrounded by white, the psionic narrowed her eyes as they adjusted to the overwhelming light emitting from the walls. Emma looked up to see large pearl white beams at the top of the area, a beautiful starry sky was beyond, its contents twinkling and seemed to light up the place even more. She began to walk forward a little, feeling a sense of familiarity as her forehead creased into a frown. She knew this place.

"Hello Emma,"

A chill ran down Emma's spine, immediately recognizing the voice as one she hoped to never hear again. Turning around to see what had greeted her, and she got a shock when she did. The empath was facing a large hulking demon with stone grey skin; it wore a tattered piece of brown leather around its midsection, while a rope necklace dangled from its neck. Around six large curved teeth hung from the rope, they were almost big as the large nails it kept flexing on his claws that look like they could do serious damage.

"I know you…" Emma whispered hoarsely, swallowing the lump in her throat as she advanced on the creature.

It broke out into a grin, flashing the large teeth that its mouth housed, "I should think so; you after all, owe me for everything that you hold dear in your life at this moment. You have made good use of your granted second life, but I'm afraid it's at its end,"

Her eyes widened and a painful pang of fear hit her heart, "What… What do you mean? I thought you said that I could live out my life with this chance!" She pleaded, stepping forward and ignoring the terror she felt.

"Yes, that is true. But I'm afraid I'm just a mere agent to a higher power and I have received direct orders from them to inform you of your life ending." It informed her, "Your case has been debated much by those who control, and it is very rare for me to receive direct orders from them."

Her eyes flashed with fury, "So I'm going to get killed, just like that?"

"You misunderstand." The demon waved the notion away with its claw, "Your death is inevitable, in fact, and it is because of extremely… unique destiny that your life won't end there,"

Emma narrowed her eyes, not sure if she could trust the demon. If he had given her life, he could probably take it away just as fast, "What do you mean?"

"Just make arrangements. Things that a human would do if they knew their life was coming to an end. I do believe you make… wills." He smiled slightly.

She gave him an offended look, "You expect me just to let go of Lorna too?"

The creature's eyes widened with fear, "Lorna must be safe at all costs! She should be your first priority when you return to your world, ensure that she will be looked after before you do anything else."

"Why?"

"That does not concern-,"

"If you talking about my daughter then I think it does!"

But there was suddenly a bright flash. Emma winced as she put her arm over her eyes; they were shocked by the sudden change in light and stung as the psionic cringed into her arm. She tried to look in the direction the voice was coming from, but the light was too harsh.

"Ensure the child's safety and prepare to die, your friends cannot know of this mission."

* * *

Katrina cursed loudly as she slammed her hands down on the side of the cauldron, blinking quickly as she regained her normal sight. Regaining her composure, the Seer ran a hand through her hair and took a deep breath; she had to prepare for the visitors she had foreseen. Taking a pewter ladle from the pedestal next to the cauldron, she dipped it into the concoction she has been brewing for the last hour. Katrina calmly poured the ladle's contents into a glass bottle and setting it down carefully on the small knee height table.

"Here we go…" She whispered to herself before turning around to see a cloud of orbs descend from the ceiling, slowly taking on the form of Leo, Phoebe and Pamela.

The three of them stared the Seer down, who shrugged cockily. Phoebe turned to Leo, "Go get Paige and Brennan," She whispered, slyly handing him a potion before he ran through the passage in the cave.

Katrina stepped to the right, attempting to follow the elder, but a cloud of chilling white frost suddenly flew in front of her, blocking the path and creating a thick layer of ice on the cauldron she was standing next to. Pamela stood with her hand under her mouth, revealing that she had been responsible for the cryokinetic attack.

"You're not going anywhere…" The teen warned, lowering her hand and flexing her fingers, preparing for another assault on the redhead.

Suddenly, Katrina threw out her hand, conjuring a three pronged dagger as she did. The dagger flew towards Phoebe, who had her eyes closed with deep concentration and managed to catch the weapon skillfully before it whisked into her head. The Charmed One's eyes flashed open to reveal electricity sparking from them.

"Phoebe…?" Pamela frowned at her aunt, stepping back slightly as the neon blue eyes narrowed threateningly at Katrina, who took one look into the witch's eyes before disappearing in a flash of light, sensing the power and fearing it.

* * *

Leo hugged the cavern wall as the shouting got louder. The last thing that they needed to happen was for him to be spotted and have all hell break loose. The elder looked up as he got closer to the edge, seeing a cage hanging from the gorge ceiling where Paige and Brennan where being held. He then peered down into the massive abyss, gasping with horror with what he saw.

Hundreds and hundreds of Leech Demons, all of them roaring at the top of their voices as if trying to rally each other to get even more riled up. Leo could see that there were many camp fires. It was like a sky of demons with the small clusters of fire being the sparkling stars of the night. The elder began to look around; he brought the potion out of his pocket, the one that would break the force field around the cage. There was only one problem, how was he going get close enough to use it?

He began to look around the ceiling of the cavern, looking for a large jagged rock or a deep indent in the wall that he could stand on, but the cave seemed to have been modified by powerful magic and its walls were unnaturally smooth. Leo stared at the cage, knowing there was only one way to pull this off. Putting the potion back in his pocket, he took a step back so he wouldn't be seen and was enveloped in a swaddle of orbs.

* * *

Pamela tried to push Phoebe off her as her aunt had her pinned against the wall by the neck with her arm, slowly cutting off the teen's air supply. She stared into the Charmed One's sparking eyes, seeing electricity ping out in different directions as she pressed her forearm harder onto Pamela's neck, who had now resorted to flailing her legs, she was powerless.

_Let me be of assistance. _

Somehow, Pamela managed to take in a gasp of air as a searing heat passed through her body. She felt as if her skin was being scorched. A white hot glow enveloped Pamela's eyes, making Phoebe frown and attempt to crush the remaining life out of the witch.

"Inhio…" Pamela wheezed, waving her hand across Phoebe's face with a great effort. The middle Halliwell's arm immediately fell from her niece's neck; she just stood in front of her, blinking the odd time was the only sign as life.

"Altivolus!" She screamed, pointing at Phoebe with her index finger and sending her hurtling into a large bookcase type unit filled with potions, making all the glass come down on her head. She was, however, not fazed by his onslaught and bared her teeth as she got up, wiping the glass from her jeans.

"No harm shall come to this vessel," Pamela warned, her eyes briefly shifting towards the large cauldron in the centre of the room. Making a quick gesture towards it, she activated her magic, "Surgite!" Pamela yelled, raising her arm and making the cauldron hover into the air before suddenly hurtling itself towards Phoebe.

The witch's lightning blue eyes widened as the stone cauldron flew into her chest, she was sent flying back, pinned to the cauldron as it crushed her between the wall and itself. Pamela looked triumphant, lowering her arms and folding them, smirking at her work. But there was a grunt underneath the rubble, and suddenly the cauldron was thrown into the air by a very much alive Phoebe, who pushed the obstruction towards her enemy.

"Confuto!" The teen yelled, raising her hands and stopping the large sailing object from crushing her. With a strained look on her face, she whipped her arms to the right, throwing the cauldron to the side and out of the way.

"You magicks are strong. But even you must have a breaking point." Pamela growled, raising her hands to cast another spell.

"You are a powerful Wicca. But I am forever; you shall not defeat me…" Phoebe replied in a booming voice, beginning to stride towards her niece, who seemed to be running out of ideas.

Pamela's ears twitched slightly as she heard footsteps coming down the path, she had to end this, and quickly.

"Expulsum illa confuto phasmatis… Expulsum illa confuto phasmatis…" She began to murmur a chant as Phoebe walked towards her. She grabbed the teen's neck, who instantly put her hand on the hand that was trying to strangle her. Bright flashes past through the room, both witches shared an intense stare before a ripple of energy blasted the two apart. Pamela skidded across the floor, hitting her head off the wall while Phoebe landed in the wreckage of the bookcase she had demolished earlier.

"Phoebe!" Brennan ran across to his semi-conscious wife, dropping to his knees and helping her up from the wood splinters that she was lying on. The two of them stood up, Phoebe nursed a bump on her head while Pamela did the same after being helped up by Paige and Leo.

"Did Katrina do this to you?" Leo asked his niece, looking around at the destruction he thought had been caused by a battle with the Seer.

Pamela rubbed the back of her head and shared a look with Phoebe answering, "Um… Yeah, she got away… I think. I don't really remember," That was the truth; the last thing she remembered was looking into the neon blue of Phoebe's eyes.

The middle Charmed One decided to agree before it raised too much suspicion, "Yeah, I think she just threw us into the walls and left. I'm surprised she didn't come after you. How did Leo get you guys out anyway?"

Paige giggled slightly, "He orbed himself onto the top of the cage. You should have seen him squirming for something to grip onto."

The elder rolled his eyes at his sister in law, "Well, it was either that or fall into a canyon full of demons. Would you rather I had just left you in that cage to rot?" He retorted with a hint of a smile.

"Of course not," Paige smirked, "We're very grateful." She looked towards her sister and her husband, "Why don't we get out of here before the cavalry comes, huh?"

Phoebe nodded and patted Brennan's chest slightly, "I'm for that. Although I would like to pick up Connor from Magic School first,"

"Sure, I need to get the girls anyway." The youngest Charmed One replied.

"Alright, looks like it's group hug time…" Pamela groaned as they all joined hands, making sure everyone was connected before leaving in a cloud of orbs.

* * *

Emma wiped away a stray tear from her cheek as she sealed off the letter with a "Winnie the Pooh" sticker. She turned the envelope over, picking up the ballpoint pen again and writing on the front, "_The Halliwells_" before setting it up next to one of her potion books on the desk so that the next person to enter her room would see it.

The psionic stood up, grinning at her daughter who was currently wriggling around on the bed. She picked up the redheaded infant and balanced her on her hip, smidging her nose with the tip of her finger and making Lorna laugh before pulling her into a tight embrace.

"Mommy will always, _always_, be watching over you sweetie…" She kissed Lorna tenderly on her forehead as more tears began to fall from her eyes, "Promise me you'll be a good girl for Auntie Piper, okay?" Lorna cooed in response, reaching out and touching her mother's cheek with a soft hand.

Emma attempted to connect with her daughter empathically, so that, no matter how young she was, an imprint would forever be made on her heart. But the empath frowned when she found that no connection opened. Beginning to panic, Emma squeezed her eyes shut and attempted to orb downstairs, when she opened them, she still saw her room around her. Her powers were gone.

"Piper!" She yelled as she began to storm downstairs, frantically scanning for the eldest Halliwell witch as she made her way down to the bottom floor.

Emma found Piper in the kitchen, pouring the contents of a potion pot into sink. The Charmed One had her head turned away to avoid getting the potion splashed up in her face as it sloshed down into the drain.

"Damn… Why did you make so much?" She asked, turning to talk to the redhead.

"Piper, I-."

"I mean, it's not going to be you cleaning up this mess, it's me,"

"Yeah I know, but listen-,"

"Do you guys think I enjoy cleaning up after all your messes? You leave dirty potion pots, Pamela's room is always mess, Leo leaves Magic School files all over the place…"

"I'm sorry, but-,"

"It just gets a little straining from time to time, you know?"

"Piper!" Emma snapped, determined to stop the latest rant her roommate was on.

"What?" Piper exclaimed, putting the pot down and turning around.

The psionic took a deep breath, "I don't have my powers,"

Piper's jaw hit the floor just as Leo orbed in with Wyatt, Chris and Pamela, "What are you talking about? How can you just lose your powers?" She shrilled, not even noticing the rest of the household beside her.

"Oh my God, you lost your powers?" Pamela breathed.

Emma frowned slightly, "Do you think the Elders revoked my powers?"

"Wouldn't put it past them…" Piper muttered with a rolled of her eyes.

Leo shrugged, "I don't know. But I don't think it's possible for them to revoke all of your powers, I mean, not all of them were given to you by them so…"

"Why don't you go check?" Emma finished for him. "But drop the kids at Magic School." She handed Lorna over to him, "With one power down, they'll be safer there."

As she was handed to Leo, Lorna's bottom lip began to quiver as she reached out her mother. Emma could only smile meekly and gave her daughter a wave as she orbed out with her "Uncle" Leo.

"I'll go check the book," Pamela muttered, not only wanting to check about Emma's powers, but to see if there was anything in there on Prudence Warren 1st. She left the kitchen, still rubbing the back of her head from the bump.

Piper went to follow her niece. But Emma gently grabbed her arm and made her stop, "Um… Piper, if anything was to happen to me… Would you take care of Lorna?" She stared the witch out, as she was giving Emma a surprised and confused look. Piper wriggled free and folded her arms.

"Of course. Would you do the same with Wyatt and Chris if it was me?" Emma nodded immediately, "Alright then, let's go get your powers back."

The two of them walked into the dining room, but immediately stopped when Pamela went sailing past them and crashed into the wall of the stairs, sending a shower of wood splinters into the air as she shattered the wood with the velocity of her body. The two witches whipped their heads around to see the Nameless One standing in the solarium with his hand outstretched.

The demon conjured a fireball, bouncing it in his hand for a while, as if taunting them, before throwing it towards Piper and Emma. Piper, who thought fast, quickly grabbed her friend's hand and breathed in, meaning to mass out. But the flaming sphere went right through them, exploding on impact with the wall and leaving a scorch mark. The Halliwell looked down at herself and Emma to see that she their bodies were now wavering particles. She had phased.

"I got my power back…" She breathed.

Emma immediately made her way over to Pamela, "Lift now, glow later!"

"You can't orb away this time…" The demon growled, conjuring yet another fireball as Piper and Emma began to lift Pamela as they climbed the stairs slowly. Emma looked back and gave him a look filled with hate, now realizing he had been responsible for her losing her powers.

"Piper!" She wailed, cringing as a fireball hit the banister, making another flurry of wood and cutting their faces in the process. Another fireball was coming their way, and with the banister gone, they had no protection. Piper jut out her hand, her fingers twitching slightly as the fireball blew up in a shower of sparks.

"C'mon! We need to get to attic!"

* * *

Leo orbed into the Magic School nursery to find Paige, Aidan, Phoebe and Brennan sitting with the kids. He quickly put Lorna down in the playpen and let the boys to play with their toys before rushing to towards his family. He wasn't sure, but as he had orbed away, he had heard the noises of a fierce battle coming from the Manor.

"Hey, why did you bring Wyatt and Chris back? And Lorna…" Phoebe looked past him to smile at the baby.

"I think something big is going down at the Manor." Leo informed them immediately, "Emma's lost her powers so it's only Piper and-,"

"Whoa! Leo, slow down. Are they being attacked?" Paige asked, trying to calm her brother in law.

He groaned with frustration, "I don't know…"

"Okay, stay here. I'll go check it out," The witchlighter announced, beginning to orb out before her sister grabbed her arm.

"I'm coming with you," Phoebe said, standing up and bouncing on the balls of her feet, ready to fight. But the wind was knocked out of her sails when Paige shook her head, "What?"

"Well…"

"Paige, spit it out!"

She let out a sigh, "Piper and I agreed to keep you out of demon fights until you get your powers back,"

The middle sister's eyes widened with rage, "What? You went behind my back and just decided this? I can levitate which means I can fight!" She was about to say more, until a jolt passed through her body and memories were awakened. She had heard something like this before.

* * *

"_I thought we agreed that she wasn't going to be part of this! She can only levitate!" Piper exclaimed as she pointed at Phoebe._

"_She refused to stay behind," Paige said sheepishly._

"_Piper, I'm got going to sit here and watch you all die! You need the Power of Three!" The middle sister protested.

* * *

_

Phoebe's look grew distant as she realized her vision was coming to pass. She had to convince Paige, "But Piper and I have been working on a spell to vanquish the Nameless One!" She pulled a piece of paper out of pocket, waving it in her sister's face, "See? Why would you want me out of the fight when I'm the only one with the vanquishing spell?"

"I don't know, but you're not coming!" Paige shook herself out of Phoebe's grip and began to orb out. She before she was completely devoured by white lights, the middle Halliwell shot out her hand, grabbing onto Paige's hand and being consumed by orbs as they disappeared.

* * *

The attic door burst open, Emma and Piper walked as fast as they could as they carried an injured Pamela towards the edge of the attic. They set her down and Piper ran over to the Book of Shadows, flipping anxiously through the pages as Emma gave her a disapproving look while trying to awaken Pamela.

"He's gonna be in here in a matter of seconds and it's now you start looking at that thing?" She snarled.

Piper ignored her, "Paige! Get your ass down here!" she shouted to the ceiling, "Paige!" It took two calls before orbs began to appear, slowly taking on the form of Paige and Phoebe. Phoebe looked confused, remembering Brennan was here in her vision.

"I thought we agreed that she wasn't going to be part of this! She can only levitate!" Piper exclaimed as she pointed at Phoebe.

"She refused to stay behind," Paige said sheepishly.

"Piper, I'm got going to sit here and watch you all die! You need the Power of…" She suddenly stopped, remembering more of her vision and turning to Paige, "Did you get your healing power back?"

"No…" Her baby sister shook her head Phoebe wore a fearful look. It had all changed.

"Fine!" Piper suddenly exclaimed, "Paige, get Pam back on her feet, Emma, get the potions, and you…" She gestured wildly at Phoebe, "Kick some ass!"

Piper continued to flip through the Book of Shadows as Paige took over from her friend by trying to wake up Pamela. The witchlighter slapped her niece's face slightly, mentally saying sorry when she saw all the cuts on the teen's face. Phoebe took a deep breath as limbered up slightly, knowing exactly what was going to happen next. Emma got back to her feet and jogged across the room, only to be stopped by a tower of fire erupting in front of her and the Nameless One appearing.

"I was expecting a bit more of a fight…" He smirked.

"And you'll get one…" Piper growled, throwing up her hands and blasting the demon into a tornado of swirling molecules. Emma ran through the swarm of particles and reached the potions on the table, beginning to scan them all to see what ones would help.

The demon reformed with a grunt, turning to Phoebe and grinning, "Let's weed out the weak, shall we?" A fireball appeared in his hand.

"I couldn't agree more…" She snarled, levitating into a horizontal position and attempted to kick him on the chest. But something happened that she hadn't expected. He caught her foot just before it hit his chest and threw Phoebe across the room by the ankle with supernatural strength. The witch crashed into an antique desk, smashing it as she landed and getting knocked out.

Paige had given up on trying to revive her niece and stood up, glancing for anything that could used as a weapon. "Chair!" She screamed, gesturing at a wooden rocker and throwing it at her enemy in a cloud of orbs. "Grandfather clock!" The witchlighter shouted again, calling for the tall clock and making it disappear in orbs before throwing it at the Nameless One in the same fashion.

The demon growled as the timepiece smashed off his back, this was getting tiresome. With a quick gesture, he stopped the orb covered sofa that was hurtling towards him, and redirected towards the youngest Charmed One. Paige's eyes widened as the wooden three piece hit her, she was sent flying into the attic wall and fell to the floor with a small trickle of blood flowing from her temple

Piper stood next to the Book of Shadows, realizing that she was probably next. She began to try and get her breathing back into sync, knowing that her molecular density skills would be the only thing to save her.

"This is it…" The Nameless One smirked. He had studied these three witches ever since his first encounter, Piper, being the oldest, would no doubt be the strongest. The demon glanced at the book, smiling inwardly before releasing a fireball at the tome. As he expected, an orange-yellow shield suddenly erupted from the Book of Shadows, the fireball fizzled out on contact, but because she was so close to it, the shield blasted Piper back when it arose. She was sent hurtling towards a wooden dresser, sailing into it and making all the china fall onto her, knocking her out.

Just when the demon thought he was alone, small stings suddenly started to erupt on his back. He rolled his eyes and turned around to see Emma throwing potion after potion in his direction, each of them only making small scorch marks on his leather jacket. Conjuring a fireball in his right hand, he grinned at the psionic and winked.

"Just you and me, Red," He taunted, before bringing arm back and swinging it forward, throwing the fireball straight at Emma's chest.

* * *

Leo, Brennan and Aidan appeared in the centre of the attic in a mixture of orbs and water. It was obvious that a battle had happened here, the furniture was smoldering, most of wooden antiques were in pieces, and even more worrying, the only person they could see from their view was an unconscious Pamela, who seemed to be coming to with a groan. There was another groan behind a large item covered with a sheet, Phoebe blinked a few times as she stood up, using the covered item to balance herself. Brennan walked over to her, holding her arm and helping her get back to her feet as she laid a hand over her eyes.

Leo noticed Piper lying on the floor behind the untouched Book of Shadows. He knelt down next to her, breathing a sigh of relief when he felt a pulse at her neck before putting his hand above her forehead and releasing a burst of healing light from his palm, reviving his wife and helping her up.

Aidan scrambled to the floor when he saw blood seeping from Paige's head. He put his head over her wound and released a blue glow from his hands. The blood began to crawl back into the gash as it sealed up, healing the witchlighter and waking her. Aidan took her hand and pulled her up to her feet. Paige shook her head slightly and looked around the room, gasping with horror at what she saw, "No…"

Emma lay on floor, her eyes frozen open with sheer terror. A potion vial rolled out her limp right hand, making a small thud on the wooden floor as it hit. Smoke poured from the gaping hole in her chest, similar to the scorch mark that was on the wall behind her.

She was dead.

* * *

_Okay! Don't kill me! If you read Emma's conversation with the demon earlier in the chapter, you might not lose all hope!_

**NEXT TIME:** The Halliwells reel severely from Emma's death, especially when a demon crashes her funeral. Piper and Leo adjust to having to raise a child that isn't theirs. The anger and pain Pamela feels causes a new power to reveal itself, along with Paige turning towards the bottle to ease the pain of losing her best friend.

Chapter 31 **"Grave"** will be up soon!

_PS: If you guys remember, I sent out profiles of characters with their pictures and things like that. If anyone still has the one I sent them, could you send it back? Because it got deleted from my computer and I would really like to have a copy. Thanks in advance!_


	31. Grave

_Ah… I'm so glad I was able to update on my birthday! That means I shall be receiving presents in the form of reviews lol! Here come the replies!_

_Loz _- Thanks, although there aren't many kid parts in this chapter!

_Prince Halliwell_ – I'm glad you LOVED all of it lol! And you'll need to wait and see about Lorna, and Katrina will be sticking around for a while ;)

_MasterYueKeroberos88 _– No, Piper doesn't have her freezing power back yet. And I'm really sorry, but I would really appreciate if you didn't use the Elementals.

_Chyp_ – Thanks!

_Ravenix_ – LMAO! I don't know why your review made me laugh, but hold onto hope!

_Kendall paige charity_ – Thanks! And you better believe it lol!

_Anianka_ – Scared? Mwhaha. That was my plan all along lol! And yes, I hope you understood too otherwise you'll be in for a shock. Yeah, Pam was a little whiny there, but they were all fed up of Emma's behaviour. Heh… What would be the point of happy ending or there wasn't sadness along the way?

_Princess Pinky_ – I know! I'm horrible! But hold out for better times. Thanks, and you won't find out what's up with Phoebe until the very end of the story, and yeah, Prudence took control again, she's going to play a major part in the sequel!

**Grave**

Pamela walked into the dark room carrying a glass of water and two pills. She had to take these to keep her schizophrenia at bay, the last thing she wanted was to have a hallucination around her little cousins and scare them. She set the objects down on the desk and ran a hand through her raven dark hair before sweeping her palms across her eyes, trying to wake herself up.

The wailings of a baby soon echoed through all the bedrooms of the floor. Pamela shook her head slightly, Lorna had usually been a good sleeper for her age, but ever since Emma died, the infant cried at every waking moment, and it was putting a strain on the family. Quickly scanning Emma's room, she picked up the water and pills before walking out. It has just lost its warmth now. Pamela closed the door as a sign of respect before making her way to her room, where she saw Chris sitting on her bed, waiting for her.

"What's up, little man?" She asked, putting her pills in her mouth and quickly taking a sip of water, swallowing them.

Chris held on the teddy that was wrapped in his arms. "I had a bad dream," The four year old admitted. Pamela looked to into his eyes for confirmation; the brunette had his bottom lip out slightly as he nodded.

The teen groaned slightly, it was the third time this week that this had happened, "You want to sleep in my bed?" He nodded slowly, she sighed. The first night this had happened, Pamela had asked Chris why he hadn't gone to Piper and Leo. The boy's reply has stunned her.

"Because you're my big sister,"

Pamela also had a sneaking suspicion that Chris didn't want to disturb his parents, who were clearly run down with Lorna's erratic behaviour and had barely enough time in the day to look after themselves let alone Wyatt and Chris. Over the past week, the teen had had to get her cousins to school, to bed, she had even went as far telling their teachers that if there was any problems, they were to come to her and not Piper and Leo.

"Sure, hop in," Pamela replied with a sigh, walking around the bed and getting in the other side while Chris clambered underneath the blankets, hugging his bear tightly as he curled up into a ball.

"Pam?"

"Hmm?" She grunted as she laid her head on the pillow.

"I miss Emma." The four year old replied.

Pamela sat up in her bed and looked at her little cousin. She held out her arms and he stood up, walking over to her and getting a hug. "I know honey, I do too…" She whispered in his ear before letting go and rolling over onto her pillow, turning off the dim light on the nightstand and settling in.

"Good night,"

* * *

Leo stifled a yawn as he shifted his tie back and forth, trying to make it sit properly. It was dark blue, almost purple and complimented with black stripes running diagonally across it. The elder run a hand over his pale blue shirt, straightening out some of the creases before picking up the black suit jacket on the bed, sighing inwardly and rubbing his eyes. It had been a tough week.

Pamela gave her reflection a hollow stare as she looked at her outfit. She had never actually been to real funeral before, crime scenes where someone had died was the closest thing she had had to that kind of experience. She gave an uncertain look to the smart black pants she had decided to wear. From what she had seen, Piper had been wearing a skirt that stopped just under her knees, the last thing Pamela wanted to do was to make a mockery out of Emma's funeral by wearing the wrong thing. It may have seemed trivial to many, but it was important to her.

She brushed her hair off her shoulders, letting it flow down her back. The teen gave herself another look in the mirror before grabbing her hair with both hands and lifting it up. Nodding with approval at herself, she picked up two black sticks she had on her vanity and expertly put them into her hair, holding it in position behind her head and revealing the looping material of the halter top around her neck. Pamela gave herself one last look before grabbing the cardigan like piece of black clothing and walking out of the room.

"Where are the kids?" She asked Piper, who was standing in the parlor in an embrace with Leo.

Piper sniffled slightly and dabbed her eyes with a tissue before answering, "Magic School. I don't really think a funeral is appropriate for them." They stood in silence, each realizing just how empty the Manor seemed, "Phoebe and Brennan are meeting us here," The eldest Halliwell sister announced, nodding her head as if to assure herself of something.

"What about Paige?" Pamela asked, shuffling her feet slightly and folding her arms defensively.

"She said that she would make her own way there when I went over last night."

Leo frowned at this, "The twins weren't in the nursery when I left Lorna and the boys. Do you think that she's taken them to the funeral?"

Piper shook her head, "No, Paige wouldn't subject her kids to something like that… Although she's been the one hit the hardest by this, her and Emma were best friends." Her look seemed to grow distant at talk of the deceased psionic.

The front door creaked open, a silhouette of two people showed through the misted glass as they entered. Phoebe adjusted the sizable black hat she wore on her head. The middle Charmed One was wearing sleek black dress with thin straps holding it at her shoulders. Brennan was dressed a lot like Leo, but instead, he had a navy blue shirt with a black tie.

"Hey…" The mutant greeted somberly, receiving a nod from Leo.

Phoebe looked up with heavy eyes, staring at everyone with a penetrating glare that bore into their soul as she used her recently redeemed empathy power to scan everyone in the room, "Shall we?" She croaked with a cracked voice.

Her big sister took a deep breath, "Yeah… Let's go…"

* * *

Piper looked up at the sun as she took her seat at the front. The sky was beautiful today, no one could have asked for better weather to give Emma her send off. There wasn't a cloud in sight, let alone a grey one, there was just the light and heat radiating from the sun and the artistic shadows of tree branches swaying as they danced a ballet on the grass, making obscure patterns that were hypnotizing to the eye. The eldest Charmed One let out a quiet sigh; it was such a sad day for them all, but the happy weather made mixed feelings boil in her heart as she stared at the large picture of Emma on the stand in front of her. It was if the world was against their sadness, against their pain, yet somehow, honouring it by giving Emma what she had wanted.

This had been exactly what she had requested in the letter she had left. For her funeral to be outside on a lovely day instead of being cooped up in a musty church or a gloomy cemetery chapel, it was almost to tribute to Emma to see how beautiful this was. An urn stood securely on the pedestal near the podium where the priestess would perform her ceremony. Emma hadn't given any indication to where she wanted her ashes scattered, only that "You'll know where to set me free" was written in the will.

"_We'll know?" _Piper thought in her head, _"We didn't know this was coming. Where we were scattering your ashes wasn't exactly on the top of thoughts!" _She angrily twisted at the schedule in her hands as salty tears fell to her lips. How was she supposed to speak when she was such a wreck?

Leo felt Piper's body jolt as she suppressed a hiccup. He took her hand away from tearing up the schedule and held it tightly in his own. The elder put his arm around his wife's shoulders and pulled her closer, silently respecting her pain and rubbing her back as she wept softly into his shirt.

Phoebe scowled as she left a third message on Paige's cell. She groaned and looked back into the sea of somber faces, pushing her hat down at the back so she could see easier and if Paige was on her way towards the ceremony. Brennan tapped her shoulder and made her turn around with pout.

"What's wrong?" He asked, keeping his hand on her shoulder.

"Paige isn't here yet, and neither is Aidan," She replied, seeing forms moving towards them out of the corner of her eye. Phoebe shifted her look and gaped when she saw who was coming towards the mourning party.

Shalimar strode across the cemetery with a steely glare. Her dirty blonde hair was tied in a ponytail with it waving down her back. The silver metal zips of her black cargo pants glistened in the sunlight as she walked. A grey wife beater accompanied the black denim jacket. With anyone else, it would have looked mismatched, but it seemed to work with the feral.

Jesse walked beside her, his hands stuffed in his pockets nervously and not nearly exuberating as much confidence as Shalimar. He was dressed smartly in a black suit that could only suit someone who had spent most of their lives in country clubs. The molecular's tie was slightly loosened around his neck with the top button of his deep blue shirt undone.

"I asked them to come. Me and those two have known Emma a lot longer than any of you guys," Brennan whispered to his wife, giving her hand an affectionate squeeze before pulling her to her feet to greet the new arrivals.

"Hey…" Phoebe choked out, her empathy picking up an extreme amount of rage coming from Shalimar. It was almost overwhelming her other senses, but she had learned to filter it out over the years and put on a weary look. "You okay?" The middle Charmed One asked, taking Shalimar's hand in a sympathetic way and offering a caring smile.

"Yeah…" Was the feral's reply, Phoebe noticed her friend's nostrils flare for a spilt second as her eyes narrowed, boring a hole into a tree she had focused her sight on.

The empath looked down, "You're pretty pissed…" She whispered to the conversing Jesse and Brennan wouldn't hear her, but the two were in the middle of a "macho hug" so they wouldn't have heard her anyway.

Shalimar swung her arm slightly, taking Phoebe's with her, "It's just…" She moved a wavy lock of blonde hair from her face, "People don't usually have to go through the pain of losing someone twice. It's not fair." The mutant stated with a sigh, her eyes going glassy as fresh tears sprouted, "Why did it have to happen again? Why did it… did it…" She began to choke on her own words, "Why did it… have to be _her_?" Shalimar bawled as Phoebe pulled her into a hug, letting her friend cry into her shoulder and pulling off her hat when it got in the way.

"C'mon…" The Halliwell whispered hoarsely as she put her hands on the sides of Shalimar's head, "Let's go give her a proper send off…"

* * *

Piper stared at the ground as she twisted a piece of her dark chocolate coloured hair between her index finger and thumb. The witch had now given up on wiping away her tears and had settled for just sitting in a catatonic state, not even listening to the ceremony the priestess was conducting. Paige was supposed to speak today, being Emma's best friend; she had known the psionic the most out of all of them. But the youngest Charmed One hadn't appeared as of yet, so it would go straight to Piper to say something.

What was she meant to say? That Emma had left a letter enclosing everything she wanted, coincidently right before her death? Not to mention leaving her daughter in the hands of the closest adults she could find. Piper never thought she would have anymore children, let alone from circumstances like this, but she just had to keep telling herself that this was meant to be.

What was _this_ though? Lorna was meant to grow up with no real family? That she, and the Halliwells, were supposed to live a lie from now on? She shook her head vigorously, as if to tell herself that she would not do that to a child, to shatter their world so abruptly by telling her that she wasn't family. It was at this moment Piper vowed to herself that Lorna would always know her background. Always know that, although she was considered family, her true parents would always watch over her. But most of all, Piper vowed that she would treat the baby as her own, love her the same way, treat her the same way, anything that Wyatt and Chris had got, Lorna would too.

"And now, to speak for us, one of Emma's closest friends, Piper Halliwell," The priestess announced.

Piper still sat there, twisting her hair until Leo put a hand on her knee, bringing her out of the trance and making her realize it was her turn. The Charmed One turned to her husband, who gave her a look that said, "You don't have to do this," but she wanted to, to give Emma what she deserved. Piper stood, trembling with fear as she brought the speech she had prepared out of her pocket and walked towards the podium, looking out into a mass of hats and sniffling people who dabbed their eyes with at tissue occasionally.

"Um…" Piper hesitated in front of the microphone. She looked down at the piece of paper she had set down; all the words on it just seemed to be all jumbled up in her eyes. The witch looked out again, seeing her family in the front row giving her supportive looks.

"C'mon Piper…" Pamela whispered to herself as she clutched to Zach's hand, silently willing her aunt to say what she really felt.

"I had… prepared this whole… speech…" Piper stuttered into the microphone, holding up the piece of paper for proof, "But… I think I'm just going to… speak from the heart." She sent a weak smile out to her audience. Someone coughed, which gave Piper her cue to begin.

"Emma was…" She let out a languid sigh, "She was the kindest person that you could ever meet… She had his way of… knowing when something was wrong, and she would always go out of her way to help you, even if it meant her…" Piper's breathes began to shorten, "Her… her suffering." The witch looked out into the sea of faces courageously, "That's really what Emma was in a nut shell, selfless. She would keep all the bad stuff to herself, never sharing it in case she upset someone, to let someone know _she_ was upset. She carried that burden everyday of her life, I guess that's the price she paid for having that power-," The entire front row, all magical beings, held their breath, "With people." A sigh of relief. "Emma didn't deserve to die. I know everyone says that when they've lost a loved one but it's true. It was before her time, and after spending so much time helping people, there was no time left… to help herself…" She began to wrap it up, turning towards the urn that seemed to be the centre of entire funeral, "But you're free now, so… take care…"

Piper stepped down, her heels clomping on the wooden stage as she walked down the small flight of stairs and back to her seat. She sighed inwardly, putting her hands over her face until they were pulled down by the two people sitting on either side of her.

Leo smiled and rubbed her hand, "You did great sweetie…" He murmured, leaning in to give her a peck on the cheek.

Phoebe clutched her sister's hand in her own, "It was beautiful Piper…" She added, rubbing Piper's arm lovingly before turning back to hear the conclusion of the proceedings.

* * *

"Paige, this is your very pissed off sister leaving yet another message. Where the hell are you?" Phoebe blistered into the receiver of her cell phone before snapping it shut with an aggravated grunt. She shoved it back into her purse and folded her arms.

Pamela looked up from where she was sitting on the edge of the wooden stage, "Is she still not answering?" Her aunt shook her head, "Have you tried the apartment?"

"Yeah, but I think it's disconnected or something. I'm getting nothing at all." She replied, turning to Shalimar, "Could you… come with me to her apartment? I just want to make sure Paige is okay,"

The feral shrugged, "Why not…?" She turned towards the hot sun, putting her arm on her forehead to shield her eyes from the harsh light.

All of the guests were now piling into their cars to go back to the Manor for the wake. Piper and Leo and gone with them to not arouse suspicion while the others had stayed here and waited for Paige, who hadn't yet turned up. Phoebe walked across to her husband and picked at his shirt slightly.

"You guys go on back to the Manor; we'll meet you there,"

"You sure you're okay?" Brennan asked, cupping her cheek with his hand.

She smiled, "Yeah, I'm sure," The witch replied, leaning up and kissing him deeply and putting her hands in his biceps, "Go, I just want to check on Paige then we'll catch up,"

"Whoa!" Jesse suddenly exclaimed, covering his nose with his arm, "What is that _smell_?"

Pamela frowned and stood up, "What? I don't smell any- Ugh!" She grimaced and covered her nose.

"Aw… Man!" Brennan let go of Phoebe's hand to cover his nose. Shalimar had reacted in the same fashion and even took a few steps back, her heightened sense of smell giving her hell as the scent went into her nostrils.

"Zach… Do you sense that?" Phoebe turned to her niece's boyfriend, who had been sitting with Pamela until the smell has hit.

"Yeah, something's coming." He looked towards the people who were still getting into cars, "We better hope it attacks after they get away, or-," The telepath was cut off by the appearance of the demon that was causing the smell.

"Oh my God…" Jesse spluttered into his sleeve.

It was the ugliest demon any of them had seen, and most obscure. It was covered in dull crimson skin from head to toe, with small streaks of blue running through it. On one side, it had a bulging arm that matched the rest of its body, but on the other side, it was if the limb had been horribly mutated, as it was almost as big as the demon's entire body and had two hook like claws on the end. But was most repulsing was the features of his face, he had one eye missing, and the other was swollen, in fact his whole faced was mismatched. One side was swollen, massive teeth and a large eyeball, while the other had tiny teeth and no eye at all.

Brennan swirled his wrist around, igniting electricity on the tip of his fingers and preparing to blast the beast. But Phoebe pushed his arm back to his side and shook her head.

"You power is a little too visible," She nodded towards the leaving mourners, "Just hold off for a minute and save your volts."

Shalimar, having no powers that could be seen by the eye, jumped forward at an amazing speed, almost flying, ripping through the air with her body as she let out an animalistic growl, punching the demon violently in the head, then doing a front turn kick into its chest before reeling back, taking her signature feral stance. The creature let out a moan of pain and began to thrash its limbs about wildly, beginning to roar even louder.

"Phoebe! Spell!" Jesse requested, nodding towards the mourners who were turning around and seeing the demon.

"Uh…" Phoebe shook her hands violently, "Wiccan forces new and old, bend their wills, make them fold, cast a web across their sight, and blind them now, with the light…"

The spell took effect instantly; all of the mourners that had turned around were immediately cursed and put their arms above their eyes, not being able to see anything thanks to the brightness of the sun that was beating down on the graveyard. The sunlight forced them to turn away from the fight and go back to loading into the cars.

"Done!" She shouted, levitating into the air and flying towards just low enough to make it look like a jump, "Damn dress…" Phoebe cursed as her roundhouse kick was put off centre by her inability to raise her leg any higher. She cringed as the demon raised his mutated arm, readying his claws to gut the Charmed One. But he was put off when he received a ball of orange light to the head. The light seemed to have caused pain as it recoiled instantly, holding its pulsing forehead with its normal hand.

"No one's around anymore." Zach stated as another sphere of telepathic energy shone brightly in front of his forehead, "I think it's safe to use our powers." He narrowed his eyes at his enemy and sent the orange light hurtling from his forehead, hitting the demon again and causing a roar of pain. The telepath prepared another attack, but the demon was quicker. It threw out its larger arm, it was as if was elasticized as it zoomed ahead and sent is claws deep into Zach's chest before retracted its arm just as quickly as it had came.

"No!" Pamela screamed as she dropped to her knees, pawing awkwardly at the wound as she didn't know what do with herself.

Phoebe and Shalimar shared a look, "I'll get him, you help the guys." The Charmed One suggested. Her friend nodded before joining the fight against the demon. "It's going to be okay, sweetie," Phoebe assured her niece.

The demon let out a frustrated grunt as Brennan blasted him with two tesla coils, electricity poured from the mutant's fingertips until only little neon blue sparks dripped from his hands. Even though the danger of the situation, Jesse couldn't help but smirk as he teased his friend, "You're not eighteen anymore…" He chuckled as he thrust out his hand outwards, releasing an invisible jet of sub zero energy. But the demon seemed to sense the attack suddenly took in a deep breath, somehow absorbing the thermal assault and leaving Jesse to gape at his failure before he was thrown across the cemetery by a whip of the larger arm.

"Jesse!" Shalimar screeched, running at an incredible speed across to grass to where she anticipated for her friend to land. As she was running, she kept an eye on Jesse as he tumbled through the air. Without her noticing, Jesse took in a breath and massed out as he fell, Shalimar's eyes widened as she watched the orange rocky lines spread across his body. The molecular crashed into a gravestone as he landed, sending a flurry of marble in all directions before hitting the ground, creating a large crater from his increased body mass and sending out a small shockwave that threw Shalimar back, making her hit her head off a gravestone and falling unconscious as Jesse lay in the same state from his tumble.

"Brennan, get away from it!" Phoebe yelled to her husband, who was momentarily distracted by his wife shouting to notice that the demon was about to swing its colossal limb again. The wind was knocked out of the mutant he soared into the air and landed in a crumpled heap on the grass. Phoebe looked torn, Leo still hadn't replied to her calls and she had figured out when she would get possessed by the unknown being every time she was in danger. The Charmed One could only hope that the same conditions applied for Prudence taking control of Pamela's body, her niece wouldn't stand a chance without her ancestor.

Pamela watched her aunt run across to Brennan as the beast advanced on them. She looked down to Zach. Her boyfriend was lying in her arms, dying, yet her eyes were as dry as a bone. She had been like this for the past week, even when she realized Emma was dead, she hadn't cried. It felt like an insult to the psionic's memory that a tear couldn't be created for her.

But her thoughts were broken when the demon cast its shadow across the two teens. Pamela looked up to it with a steely glare and threw out her arm, attempting to send the demon flying with a telekinetic push. The demon groaned as the energy hit him, but it only made him stumble back slightly. The witch looked down at her hand with shock, with the blast she had intended, the demon should have been on the other side of the graveyard. Why hadn't it worked?

The demon grinned with his misshapen teeth as he raised his tree trunk like arm above him. Pamela instinctively put up her forearm to protect herself and cringed as the beast brought his arm downwards. Suddenly, the teen's body glowed a ghostly blue before a pulse of powerful energy erupted from her person, causing a bright flash as the demon was hurled high into the air from the ripple of energy. Everyone watched in awe as the demon, ironically enough, fell into an open grave,

"Leo!" Was the first word out of Phoebe's mouth as she ran back to Pamela, instantly casting her eyes over Zach to see if he was still alive, "Leo!" She called again, frowning at the dead expression on her niece's face.

Finally, orbs began to fall from the sky, taken on the form of her brother in law, "What happened?" He asked, shocked to see Zach bleeding to death and Jesse and Shalimar knocked out. Phoebe waved his question away and pointed to dying telepath on the ground. The elder bent down and made his hand hover across the boy's wound before releasing a burst of golden healing light.

"Is he gonna be okay?" Pamela asked quietly as she stood up from crouching.

Leo looked up for a brief moment to face his niece before looking back down at the wound, "Yeah, he's going to be fine," He replied, before going back to concentrating on healing.

"Alright, divide and conquer." Phoebe began, "Brennan, you get those two…" She pointed to Jesse and Shalimar before tugging on Pamela's arm slightly, "We'll get rid of the demon for now,"

The two Halliwells began to walk across the cemetery and towards the open grave they had seen the demon sail into. Phoebe took off her large hat and decided to hold it in front of her as the two walked in silence. Pamela let out a sigh as she brought the sticks out from her hair, letting her dark locks fall and drape down her back.

"So… What was that back there? How did you repel the demon?" Phoebe asked, turning to Pamela who averted her gaze.

"I don't know… A new power maybe?" Pamela mused, not really listening to aunt's words as she was too lost in her own thoughts.

"Well, you're certainly becoming the most powerful out of all of us, especially if you nurture… whatever you did back there. Why didn't you send him flying before then though?"

"I tried…" She confessed, "But he only lost his footing a little bit."

Phoebe raised her eyebrows then put on a relaxed face, "Well, your powers are tied to your emotions so it makes sense they're acting little funny after everything that's happened in the past week." Phoebe put in arm around Pamela's shoulders, "How you been holding up?"

The teen let out a sigh, "I'm okay, when Lorna's not screaming the house down." She added, "You seem to have kept pretty together through it all. What's your secret?"

Phoebe looked straight ahead, "I didn't know Emma as well as you guys, and I have to keep it together, especially since we're going to get investigated after this…" The witch narrowed her eyes.

"What do you mean?"

She snorted slightly, "Are you kidding? She died from a fireball through the chest, and Darryl's been taken off the case because it's us. This is the last thing we need… Here we are," The two of them stopped at the edge of the open grave, looking down at the unconscious demon, "You want to do the honours?"

"With pleasure…" Pamela replied as she began to form a spell in her head, "It feels a little cowardly to vanquish him when he's out of it, but oh well… Day is birth, night is death, take this vile demon's last breath,"

Supernatural flames conjured themselves as they licked around the demon. They consumed him until a small explosion was contained in the large hole. Pamela and Phoebe turned their heads away from the heat until the only thing that was left was burnt soil and a quivering flame.

"Wow… I thought you would have just sent away somewhere, not vanquish him," Phoebe stared at the remains of the demon.

"You're disappointed?"

"No… I just thought after the fight he put up it would require the Power of Three," She admitted as she cocked her head.

Pamela sneered, "He wasn't all that tough, just some stretchy limbs and a body odor problem. C'mon," She gestured back towards the group as she began to walk. Phoebe stared at the grave a little more before letting out a sigh and catching up with her niece.

* * *

"Paige!" Phoebe yelled as she wrapped her knuckles on the door of Paige's apartment, "We know you're in there!" She warned, her nostrils flared as she bit down hard on her bottom lip. She hit the door a few more times before sighing and looking towards Jesse, "Well, this was a good idea…" She groaned to herself.

"Why did you ask me to come instead of Shalimar?" Jesse asked.

"Because you're a lot more useful when some breaking and entering is required. Could you phase the door please?"

Jesse mused the thought over, "It's not really _breaking_ and entering since there's no breaking involved…" Phoebe just stared blankly at him, "Alright, alright…" He groaned, putting his hand on the door and taking a breath in, causing the molecules of the door to separate and allow the two witches to pass through.

Phoebe immediately grimaced as she looked around. Her sense of smell was instantly hit with the putrid stench of vomit; it stung her nostrils as she walked even further into the area, pulling another face when she spotted puddles of the smell's source dotted around the living room. On the carpet, the sofa, even the walls looked as if they had been thrown up upon. Deciding that she wouldn't walk in any further without a hazmet suit, Phoebe turned towards the kitchen and gasped when broken glass crunched under her feet. Everything was smashed, the glass in the cupboard doors, the numerous plates and bowls that had been ripped from another cupboard that's door was slightly ajar.

The burnt out remains of Paige's dining room table lay in a heap on the floor, the once polished oak was now the dull colour of charcoal, which it basically was considering the wood had been burnt to the crisp. Jesse frowned as he looked into a brown paper beg on the kitchen surface, he sighed when he saw its contents and pulled them out to show Phoebe.

"Does your sister drink?" He asked.

She immediately turned around on the spot, "No, not even a little."

Jesse wore a frightened face, like the one a doctor has before he gives his patient bad news, "Are you sure about that?" He hesitated, pulling out a tall empty bottle of vodka.

Phoebe looked around with wide eyes. Would Paige even…? No, she refused to believe it. Maybe she had just saw them on the hallway and decided to bring them in for recycling. The Charmed One could have come up with hundreds more rational reasons for the empty bottle, but nothing could explain the apartment.

"What else is in there?" Phoebe asked, walking towards him and peering over the edge of the bag.

"Uh…" Jesse fished his hand in, "Scotch, half full, tequila, hardly touched, and… orange juice?"

Just then, the door to Paige's bedroom creaked open and Aidan crept out, he was holding a bucket of some sort and cringing at its contents before he noticed the two people standing in the kitchen rifling through a bag of alcohol. He narrowed his eyes as they adjusted to the lighter atmosphere of the room, "Phoebe? How did you get in?" He asked with a slightly annoyed tone.

"Um… Jesse here can phase like Piper." She explained, "What you doing here? And what happened?"

He didn't answer before making his over to the sink and beginning to rinse out the bucket, that seemed to be full of whatever had been thrown up on the walls, "Paige has got alcohol poisoning,"

Those five words shattered Phoebe instantly, she had to take a deep breath before beginning to talk, "What….?"

"I came by last night to pick up the twins. You know, the whole joint custody thing we arranged. Paige was pretty down, I should have noticed it then, I knew I could smell drink in her breath!" He cursed himself slightly as he tipped the bucket upside down, getting the rest of its contents out, "Anyway, I came to take her to the funeral this morning, the apartment was trashed and she had just doused the table…" He nodded at the pile of blackened wood, "In vodka before throwing a match in. I put the fire out with my powers, and…" He turned his head so they could see a large gash in his temple and dried blood down the side of his face, "She clocked me with a bottle."

"Oh my God…" Phoebe stepped closer and peered at the wound, "Are you alright?"

"I was out for about half an hour. When I came to, she had made this place even worse. It didn't take long for her to pass out and choke on her own vomit. Luckily I turned her onto her side before anything bad could happen."

Phoebe processed all this information before asking more questions, "Why didn't you contact is all day? We've been worried sick about Paige,"

"Because you guys have had so much going on lately, it's the last thing you need. And do you really think you could handle seeing Paige like she was?"

"How is she now?"

"Shit." Aidan summed up briefly, "She's weeping, vomiting… just shit."

"Have you been looking after her all day?" Phoebe asked with wide eyes, she had never thought of Aidan the type to swear.

"Pretty much, she can't keep anything down. I've been giving her water now and again to keep her hydrated. I don't really want to take her to a doctor because they'll just ask too many questions."

"Well, Brennan could stop by tomorrow…" Jesse chipped in, wanting to help, "I mean, he is a doctor."

Phoebe nodded with approval, "Can I see her?"

Aidan let out a sigh as he washed his hands, "Yeah, but take the bucket, I need to plug in the phone again. Paige ripped it out last night,"

The Halliwell sighed as she took the blue bucket off the counter, standing there for a second as she tried to remember the events of the day. It all seemed to be a blur right now; maybe this was her mind's way of telling her that she wasn't up for trying to keep the family together. She shook off the feelings of doubt before walking towards Paige's room with a deep breath.

"Looks like I'm the last sister standing now…"

* * *

**NEXT TIME:** When a man arrives on the Manor doorstep claiming to be Pamela's real father, Andy, out of sheer pride and rage, breaks the rules the Elders had set out and reveals himself to his daughter, but is she really his? Paige agrees to stay in Atlantis while she mourns, but not before the sisters decide on where to scatter Emma's ashes…

Chapter 32 **"Ashes To Ashes, Father To Daughter"** will be up soon!


	32. Ashes To Ashes, Father To Daughter

_I am really sorry you guys, but once again, I just don't have time to do replies. I know you probably hate me but I promise I will address you all in the next chapter, but until then, enjoy this one. I'm quite proud of it even if I do say so myself. Lol._

_The character, Persia Halliwell, is property of a fellow FF.N author, Princess Pinky, who used some of my characters in her amazing story, "Every Halliwell Counts" You should read it if you haven't, not only to understand Pamela and Persia's friendship, but also because it's a great fic! _

**Ashes To Ashes, Father To Daughter**

Paige sat on her now cleaned sofa, courtesy of Piper, with her legs curled up next to her as she picked at the threading of the cushion on her lap. The youngest Charmed One looked terrible, her porcelain skin was now a ghostly chalk white, only broke up by the small hint of colour on her lips, which was the one sign of life as her eyes now looked like two gaping black holes in her face. The witch's dark chestnut hair was pulled back into a ragged ponytail, little strands sticking on end and her scalp almost shining with grease as a sign of her not having a shower for three days. She looked like death.

Scrunching her lifeless eyes shut, she fought against her pounding headache in vain before the she felt a shift in the light in front of her. Paige opened her eyes to see Piper sitting on the coffee table in front of her. The eldest Halliwell gave her little sister a smile that Paige loathed her for, it was one filled with disappoint, superiority and pity. The witchlighter fought back the urge to vomit on her sister as another wave of nausea crashed against her stomach and throat.

"Phoebe's almost done packing your things…" Piper informed her. Paige could only nod a little to respond, "And Aidan's got the twins ready." She reached down to her side and pulled a ragged clown doll onto her lap, "Do you want Slappy?"

Paige stared onto her sister's eyes, her head swaying as it summoned the concentration to form a sentence, "Save it…" She whispered in a strained breath. If there was one thing that bugged her about Piper the most, it was how she sometimes crossed the line from caring to patronising. Without saying another word, Paige nestled herself even further into the collar of the turtle neck that was slack enough for her to cover the bottom half of her face.

Piper let out a tired sigh and looked past her sister to see Phoebe standing in Paige's bedroom door with a suitcase at her feet, wearing a neutral expression to not anger either of her siblings, she had saw the whole thing. The middle Halliwell had to suppress the tears she felt beginning to form as her empathy picked up on Paige's depression and disappointment in herself. More than anything, she wanted to comfort her baby sister, but she knew this was something she couldn't help her with.

Aidan wheeled the double stroller out of the twins' room; both girls were in matching winter wear which included woolly blue hats that covered their heads, only showing little wisps of their blonde hair. The elemental himself was also dressed to brave the cold, with a thick jacket that had the collar up around his neck. Paige narrowed her eyes at her children's attire before looking up at their father.

"The weather in Atlantis is not like here, it's snowing there right now." Aidan replied to his ex's stare before pulling his scarf up over his mouth, "Ready to go?" Came his muffled voice from the behind the fabric, "C'mon, girl." He clicked his fingers a little, calling for Sandy and making her sit patiently at his feet.

Taking that as a sign, Phoebe pulled out the extendable handle on the suitcase and walked it towards Aidan on its wheels, before pushing the handle back in and putting the carrier into the holding tray in the bottom of the stroller. She knelt down in front of her nieces, taking a hand from each of them in her own and grinning at them before standing up, Phoebe gave an expectant look to Piper, who glared her.

With an inaudible sigh, the eldest Halliwell cautiously extended her hand to help Paige up. The witchlighter gave the palm a questionable look before putting her hand in it and allowing herself to be pulled up from the sofa, while avoiding eye contact with Piper at the same time.

"Has that us got everything?" Aidan asked, ducking down to make sure that all the children's supplied were intact in the tray below as Paige walked to side, putting a hand on the stroller handle and taking Sandy's leash from Aidan with the other. She looked towards her two older sisters, who were currently keeping their focus on their feet. Swallowing to get her voice back, Paige opened her mouth to speak.

"See you in a while…" She croaked, before Aidan, her, the dog, and the twins, were consumed with water and suddenly burst, splashing out to their new destination.

Phoebe groaned as she sat on the arm of the sofa, flicking her hands backwards at her neck and sending her long hair swishing onto her back, "Are we doing the right thing? I mean, there's plenty of places here she could have got help, we didn't need to send her to Atlantis." She looked towards her older sister for support.

Piper frowned at her with a smile, "Are you kidding me? She'll be living in luxury as she grieves, as will the twins. And transportation powers don't work in Atlantis, so there's no chance of her orbing out to a liquor store. It also means we don't have to bind her powers, which would have made her hate us."

The middle sister retaliated with an empathically charged answer, "And how much of what you just said do you believe?"

"Woman, you're an empath again for ten days and you're already on my case?" She sighed in response, "Speaking of which, why do you think you got it back so soon after levitation?"

Phoebe pondered over her answer, "I actually don't think the Tribunal had any control over the return of my other power, it was all the book's doing. And maybe they think that because Emma's…" She struggled to find the right word, but decided to leave it. "We needed at least one empath. How are you holding up?"

Piper took a deep breath and put her hands in her back pockets, "Ask again later." She smiled weakly.

* * *

"Remind me why I need to help with this," Brennan asked as he pressed the button of the elevator, a ding indicating they were going up. "It was your premonition, not to mention the guy probably isn't even in his office at…" He pushed back his sleeve to look at his watch, "Ten thirty at night. We're probably just going to get busted by security and-,"

"Put a cork in that whine, Tinkerbelle." Pamela cut him off abruptly, "Besides, since when did you come up with excuses _not_ to fight demons? C'mon! You're my sidekick for these sort of things, we both fight demons to let off steam, what's the matter with you?"

He gritted his teeth and sighed, "I just want to get home and make sure Phoebe and Connor are all right,"

"Why wouldn't they be? Phoebe's an empath again, she's practically invincible with that," Pamela objected to his worries, remembering her aunt's abilities to use her enemy's powers through their emotions.

"It's not directly Phoebe I'm worried about, it's-," He was cut off by the elevator eliciting a piercing ding, letting them know they were on the right floor.

They walked into a beautiful hallway; Pamela expected nothing less from one of the biggest law firms in the city. It was tastefully decorated with a deep biege coloured carpet, and small spotlights in the ceiling bathed the corridor in a soft glow. The serenity however, was quickly ended with a man's scream coming from behind a door down the hall.

Without a second to spare, Pamela raised her hands and gestured aggressively, reducing the door into a shower of wood shafts and splinters that flew into the office from the force of the explosion.

"What the hell…?" She frowned as she stepped through the large hole in the entrance along with Brennan, who already had a handful of electricity sparking and sizzling in his hand.

From what the two witches could see, a plume of black smoke had engulfed the man, who was now slumped to the side in his large black leather chair as the gaseous being swirled around him. When the creature pulled back, Pamela cringed and Brennan swore loudly at the state the man was in, it was almost as if the smoke had burned away the top layer of skin and the muscles of his face could clearly.

"Now that's just _nasty_!" Brennan exclaimed, following the cloud with his eyes as it hovered above its latest victim.

"I don't think I thought this through…" The teen cringed as the swarm of blackness suddenly flew at her uncle, "Look out!" She shouted, taking in a sudden gasp for air as her fear triggered her new power. The witch's body glowed with an eerie blue light before a thundering crash sounded and a pulse of astral energy tore from her body. The surge of power scattered the cloud, a scream of anguish flew through the air before a haunting silence filled the office.

"Where'd it go?" Brennan swirled around, looking for any traces of the demon.

A breath from Pamela signified she had awakened, "Damn power…" She growled, before a buzzing sound hit her ear. The witch looked down, gasping as dark particles circled her ankles before swallowing her in a whirlwind of darkness.

"Pam!" Her uncle bellowed, ready to hurl an arc of lightning at the tornado, but then realized he would hit Pamela and not the demon. All he could do was watch as the creature devoured his niece before coming after him.

"NO!" A man's voice screamed as orbs filtered through the ceiling, eventually revealing a man dressed in jeans with a leather jacket over a grey sweater and white t-shirt. The stranger threw a potion at Pamela's feet; even the vial seemed to glow before it smashed on the ground, releasing a blinding flash of bright light that was accompanied by a long groan of pain.

Brennan brought his arm down from his eyes to see Pamela standing in front of him, unscathed, and the man breathing heavily, as if he had hurried.

"Who the hell are you?" The mutant asked calmly, snuffing the voltage in his hands by making a fist.

Pamela's face was drained of all colour as she stared into the face of her saviour, she opened and closed her mouth rapidly, at a loss for words. She walked towards the man, still trying to form a coherent word, "Da…" She began, before her eyes rolled to the back of her head and she hit the floor unconscious.

* * *

_Shadow Demons._

_Extreme caution advised when confronting this gaseous form of evil. Within the dark cloud lies an incorporeal being that devours its prey's skin, constantly searching for a form. Lone confrontation is not recommended, as this demon can expand and retract on command, allowing it to flow through the smallest of spaces or engulf the biggest of areas. C.f Exsilium_

"I can't believe you went after such a dangerous demon with just the two of you. You guys didn't even have the vanquishing potion!" Piper scolded Brennan while Pamela lay unconscious on a sofa in the attic.

"There's a vanquishing potion?" Brennan raised an eyebrow at his sister in law. She tapped her finger at the Latin word at the bottom of the paragraph.

"It means 'look up banishments'," She picked up a wad of pages and turned them together, slapping the one she had landed on, "See? There's the potion recipe right there!"

"Do I need to brush up on my Latin to use that thing? And besides, she had a premonition and we didn't have much time."

"Fat lot of good it did! The guy's dead!" The eldest Halliwell pointed out.

Phoebe walked back into the attic holding a glass of water with Leo and Andy in tow. Piper gave her sister and husband an angry look as her eyes narrowed, "And I can't believe you two knew he was alive!"

The middle Halliwell put the water down on a coffee and turned to her sister, putting her hands up, "Alright, I have no excuse. He was my whitelighter for a year, I should have told you. Happy now?"

"No." She snapped, whipping around to Leo, "What's your excuse?"

"Honey…" Leo began, taking a wary step towards his wife, "You've seen how Pam's reacted to this, can you think of a time where we would have been able to handle her breaking down? We've needed her to fight ever since she came to us. Besides, there are implications…" He trailed off.

"What do you mean?" Phoebe asked.

"Mommy! Tain!" Connor suddenly blurted out, waving a toy train in the air at his mother, but looked at with a grin before bending down, sweeping her hair behind her ears as she joined her son on the floor.

"Did Daddy buy you that?" Phoebe frowned, not recognising the toy that Connor was holding onto. It was yellow and green, but the paint was chipped in places, showing the metal underneath, it looked as if it had been through a lot.

Piper narrowed her eyes at the toy, "Isn't that Dad's old train?"

"I think it is…" Phoebe marvelled for a moment, "Sweetie, where did you get this?"

Connor turned his head and pointed towards a box which had been turned on its side. Old toys were falling out, teddy bears, small metal cars, and dolls were just a few of the things that had spilled out onto the floor.

Piper smiled at her nephew as he rolled the train back and forth on the wooden floor, "I guess Prue was right to keep all these things. Take it Pheebs, it's not as if Wyatt and Chris will be playing with it, they've been poisoned by video games," She walked towards the box and picked up a doll, "Maybe Lorna would like these when she's older…" The eldest sister mused.

"Wait a minute, why did Prue tell you to keep this stuff?" Andy asked, bending down and sifting through the toys, grinning as found a plastic gun in the junk. "I remember playing 'Cowboys and Indians' with this!"

Pamela's head shifted to the side as she came to, "Ugh…" She groaned, trying to sit up on the sofa and rubbed her forehead. "What happened?" The witch opened her eyes wide before scrunching them shut. She stayed motionless as the memories came back to her, suddenly remembering her reason for fainting.

"Pam…" Andy stood back up and walked towards his daughter.

Not knowing how to react, Pamela raised her hands and followed her instincts, gesturing at the whitelighter and causing him to shatter into orbs as they flew outwards in every direction before reconstituting back into Andy, who had a look on his face that was between anger and shock.

"PAM!" Piper bellowed, narrowing her eyes and pointing a warning finger at her niece.

Phoebe just gaped at her before forming a sentence, "How… Did you know he was going to able to reform? Did you know he was a whitelighter?"

"No, I didn't." She replied flatly, flopping back onto the couch with a groan before noticing the glass of water of the table next to her. The witch sat back up and took a sip from the glass, "I want him to leave." Pamela growled, not looking up, "Now…"

Phoebe gave a look to Andy, silently saying that she would call him if he was needed. It was then both him and Leo looked skywards, both with ominous expressions on their faces. The elder turned to his wife, even though she immediately knew why the two of them had looked up.

"They're calling anyway…" He replied, turning to face Andy, "They want me to bring you in."

Piper frowned, "Wait a minute… What?"

"Why do they want Andy?" Phoebe walked slightly towards her brother in law with her brow creased.

Leo licked his lips nervously and back away from the two sisters, "Um…"

* * *

Pamela had used the argument as a distraction to slink away to her room, where she slammed the door shut behind her and paced the floor, sweeping a hand through her hair as she tried to process the information. She wanted to talk to someone to badly, yet she couldn't, everyone would have a bias opinion of the matter, saying that she should use this opportunity to get to know her father, she need someone that was on the same wavelength. Then it hit her.

Persia.

Bounding on top of her bed, she crossed her legs and gently unclasped the golden heart locket around her neck, laying it on the sheets carefully and staring at it for a while. Pamela had never used it before, _she_ had always been contacted through it, not the other way round, and the last time she was contacted was when Emma was alive… Ever since the empath had died, it seemed that a certain part of everyone who loved her had died too. Pamela could only guess that it was because of the bond they had shared. Emma had been more like a big sister than a friend, yet she could still not shed a single tear for her.

Deciding that she couldn't just sit and stare at the locket, Pamela snatched it up in her hand before pulling it open. She stared at the diamond inside as it began to glow, the witch began twisting the chaos wing necklace between her fingers nervously as the light grew stronger before a hologram suddenly sprouted from the rock, revealing the face of Persia Halliwell.

"Pam?" Her voice came through; waking the witch from the trance she had put herself in.

She automatically activated her emotion defence mechanism, "No, it's Santa Claus, who else would it be?" She snapped, instantly regretting it, "Sorry…"

"What's got you pissed?" Persia asked in a droning tone as she shifted slightly, trying to get comfortable wherever she was sitting, as the hologram tossed about before landing back on the witch's face.

Pamela let out a sigh, "I don't even know why I'm doing this…"

"You probably just had to talk to someone who was outta this world," Persia smirked back.

"No, that would be me, honey. You're out of _this_ world." She grinned back, pointing to the bed to emphasise her point before returning her hands to her lap. Okay, she had broken the ice, but Pamela could tell by the look on her friend's face that she knew something was up, "Emma's dead." She finally announced, completely realising the lack of tact in her actions.

Persia's eyes widened with shock, "Emma's… dead!" She exclaimed. The girl's eyes suddenly became very glassy, almost reflective as her usually tanned complexion turned to a sickly white, "Oh my God… When?"

"Around a week ago." She replied weakly, picking at her cuticles and bowing her head, "Everyone's been sorta scattered since then… Actually, scratch the sorta, everyone's gone completely nuts. Piper's having to take care of Emma's kid-,"

"Wait, when did she have a kid? Woman, you definitely need to start using this thing more often, this is all a lot of info to process in one session." Persia said with one eyebrow raised with an oddly out of character assertiveness.

Pamela snorted out a laugh, "Session? What are you? My shrink?"

"If that'll get you to start talking." The teen retorted, "C'mon, tell me what's been going on."

* * *

Paige stared out of the tall window of her room in the castle. She looked up to the top of the pane; it seemed to stretch for miles as it reached the ceiling. Every long sheet of glass had a coating of frost around its edges as small piles of snow and sleet built up at the bases.

"Look Melly, snow…." She whispered into her daughter's ear as she balanced on her hip. Paige grinned as Melinda raised her arm and pointed towards the light snow falling onto the balcony outside. The blonde child cooed and giggled as her green eyes widened, following one flake of snow as it fell.

"Um…" A servant timidly began her sentence. Her skin was a deep blue with shock white hair, "That's the bed spread changed, Miss." She announced, shooting a look at baby Melinda in the process.

Paige noticed this and turned slightly so she was shielding her daughter, "Thanks…" She said, hoping the woman would leave, but she kept staring at Melinda, "You're excused." The witchlighter ordered flatly with a hint of confidence.

The servant seemed to scoff at this notion, "Only the King can talk to me like that. Not some-,"

"You're excused, Beatrix." Aidan's voice echoed before a surge of water arose from the floor, taking on the form of the elemental and baby Emma, who was being held in her father's arms. "Leave these quarters now and watch your tongue."

The blue skinned woman scowled as her nose twitched a little, "As you wish, Your Majesty…" She complied lowly, speaking as if the words had caused her pain before grabbing the old sheets and fading away in a chilling wind that swept around the room, sending a shiver down Paige's spine. She was brought back to earth by Sandy jumping up on the bed.

"Sandy, down," Paige ordered kindly yet firmly. The dog whined slightly before reluctantly jumping down and settling herself at the foot of the bed. The witchlighter turned back to the window "I thought transportation powers don't work here." She inquired.

"The castle staff are immune to the charms and enchantments that are cast over the city, so they can act quickly if… I'm hurt." Aidan explained. Redness began to show in his cheeks, and it wasn't from being out in the cold.

The witchlighter lowered her daughter into the playpen next to her before turning back to the window, locking her arms together across her chest, "I didn't think you would be one for getting servants to do everything."

"I'm not." He replied, setting Emma down next to her sister walking towards the window.

"I can't really blame you though," Paige continued, "I mean, from what I remember, you aren't exactly gifted when it comes to domestics."

Aidan pretended to look offended and laughed, "Coming from the girl who dyed all of my whites pink after just throwing in that red sock! I had to go out and buy all new stuff."

"What? If I remember correctly it was a stocking that you had ruined at Christmas after you left it in front of the fire with chocolate in it! Talk about a melted mess!" Paige smiled at the memory.

"And if I remember correctly you _ate_ anything that hadn't been melted… And it still doesn't change the fact that I had a massive hole in my wallet for two months after buying new stuff."

"Hmm… shame too, I would have found your pink underwear a turn on…" Paige gave him a devilish grin.

The two of them smiled out the window as various memories of their time together came back to them. Everything that they had endured had resulted in the birth of their beautiful baby girls, and the fact that they were having a civil conversation and recounting old memories just showed how far they had really come.

"We had some good times, didn't we?" Aidan asked uncertainly, not knowing whether Paige would think it an acceptable question.

"Yeah." She replied, folding her arms again and clamping her mouth shut, "Before you shot it all to hell…" The witchligher finished with a venomous tone before walking to her daughters.

* * *

Piper sat on the living room sofa hugging her knees. Her gaze was set upon the urn that rested on the mantelpiece, she had been thinking so hard about her deceased friend that she hadn't even realised it was three in the morning. Picking up the glass of red wine from the small table, she raised it towards the urn in a toast.

"Here's to you, Red," She murmured, before polishing off the rest of the crimson liquid in one gulp before returning to the book next to her, which lay open after Piper had got caught in a trance with the urn.

Pamela entered the room silently, taking a seat across from her aunt and glancing at the empty glass, "Just how much have you had."

Piper smirked, "Only a couple of glasses, and before you ask you're not having any."

"Damn. You know, if you lived up to the drunken aunt stereotype, that wine would be in my hands right now," The teen clicked her fingers with a smile, before noticing Piper's fix on the urn, "Have you thought of where to scatter her ashes?"

"Actually…" The eldest Halliwell smiled to herself, thinking of the place she had chose of, "Yeah, it's perfect." She moved the book away from her lap, "Pam…"

Her niece put her hand up in protest, "Wait, before give me a speech, I've had some time to think, and I'll give this whole father daughter thing a try…"

Piper grinned, "What changed your mind? You were pretty adamant about it earlier."

"Well, I was ready to blow him up again the next him I saw him, but a conversation with an otherworldly being convinced me otherwise." She revealed, looking down to avoid her aunt's glowing face.

"Would this being's name begin with a P?"

Pamela licked her lips and smiled, knowing that Piper was immediately thinking Prue had been the one to talk her down from hating Andy, "Maybe…" She smirked, what didn't know wouldn't hurt her.

Both witches squinted their eyes as orbs impaired their view of each other. They cleared, revealing Leo and Andy standing in front of them, Andy with an ashamed look on his face. Piper stood up, hugging her husband while Pamela shifted uncomfortably on the couch.

"It's about time; you guys have away for hours!" The eldest exclaimed.

"Sorry, you know how time moves differently up there…" Leo rolled his eyes, "Besides, you wouldn't believe the fight this guy put up when they took away his powers," He said, putting a sympathetic hand on Andy's shoulder, "You're welcome to stay here if you want…"

Andy gave a look to Pamela; he wouldn't stay if it was going to cause her stress. He was pleasantly surprised when she put up her hands, "Why are you looking at me? I'm cool with it."

"Um… Thanks…" The ex whitelighter mumbled, "Actually, it's only a suspension so I'll be out of your hair as soon as I get my powers back, I promise."

Piper smiled, "Don't be ridiculous. You're welcome here anytime." She said before scowling, "Frickin' Elders!"

* * *

The sun was setting on the Bay, shining weakly on the water and causing it to shimmer beautifully. The city of San Francisco was also being affected by the lack of sunlight; the tall buildings that gleamed in the day were now just glowing palely as they bathed in orange light. But the most magnificent sight was the Golden Gate Bridge; the red metal seemed to be the brightest thing on the skyline, the low sun casting a tall shadow on the water below as it stood proudly.

The Halliwells had gathered atop the bridge, all of them were silent as Paige stood at the front of them, clutching to the urn in her hands as her family watched her walk towards the edge of the platform. Her shoes made a small clanging sound when she took a step; each step was taken slowly, as if Paige was trying to draw this out. She, least of all, didn't want to say goodbye. It just seemed to final this way, but she also knew that she would have to let go.

Piper and Phoebe stood with their respective families while Aidan stood with the twins. Everyone was glad that the children were staying quiet through this process, even Lorna, who had been extremely upset for the past week, had managed to find and inner calm as watched her Auntie Paige walk to the edge of the red steel. Chris and Wyatt were really the only ones who had the slightest understanding of why this was happening, Connor and the twins were just staying silent because everyone else was as they stood next to their fathers, clutching their hands.

Paige looked up, a lone tear fell from her eye, but she wiped it away defiantly, not wanting anything to go wrong as she said her final farewell. She looked back to her sisters, both were wearing supportive expressions, but Piper's hands were ready for what they had planned. She looked towards Pamela, who seemed to be swaying next to Andy, almost hypnotized and not even paying attention.

She took a deep breath, looking down at the urn and silently saying goodbye, rubbing the top lovingly as she felt her eyes sting with fresh tears, she couldn't hold back any longer, she had to free her. Closing her eyes, she held the urn out in front of her, before suddenly throwing it into the air. Piper, who seemed to have been waiting for this, threw out her hand at lightning speed, blasting the urn into millions of tiny grains that would fall harmlessly to the ground.

As the urn particles fell to the ground, the ash swirled around in the air before a gust of wind carried it away towards the sea. This was when a choking sob suddenly shattered the silence, Paige turned to see Pamela's face buried in her father's shoulder. Whatever had been in the way, Pamela had now found a way past it as she cried into Andy's shoulder, who stood with his daughter in a tight embrace, comforting her in a way only a parent could.

The youngest Charmed One turned back round, the ash seemed to have completely blown away. Emma was free now, she would now be able to live a peaceful eternity where she belonged, and even though Paige knew the empath's spirit was far from here, this made it feel like she would always watch over them.

"Goodbye…"

* * *

Leo, Piper, Pamela and Andy all sat in the living room of the Manor, each of them silently taken aback by the whole experience. Pamela had only just now stopped crying, whatever had been blocking her emotions had been destroyed, she felt a lot better after releasing everything. Andy looked around, seeing that the three of them need to reflect on this by themselves.

"I'm gonna go lie down, I'm pretty beat." He said, standing up and receiving an understanding nod from Leo before walking through the foyer to reach his bedroom in the basement.

The doorbell rang; none of them were in the mood for answering. Piper eventually got up, dragging Leo with her as she went to answer the door. She tiredly turned the lock and opened it, instantly regretting it. A police officer immediately flashed his badge and a search warrant.

"Piper Halliwell and Leo Wyatt, you are both under arrest for suspicion of murder in the first degree." The officer nodded at the two people behind him and they rushed into the house.

"What the hell? What are you talk-Ow!" Piper was cut off as the man roughly brought her arms behind her back and tightened the cuffs on her wrists. Leo was in the same position as he struggled with his cuffs.

"What's going on?" Pamela asked with a thunderous expression, "Try it Junior, and I'll take your head off." She growled at a young looking officer coming at her with a set of handcuffs.

"We have a warrant to search your house." The head guy walked towards Pamela, who snatched the piece of paper from his hands and quickly scanned it over while Piper and Leo stared at her, hoping she would find a way to stop them.

Pamela suddenly laughed, "You may be able to arrest my aunt and uncle, but you can't search the house."

The officer laughed at her, "And what do you know about search warrants, little lady?"

"Well, I know for one thing that you can't search this house, since the warrant says 1339 Prescott Street, this is 1329 Prescott Street. So I would appreciate it if you got the hell out of my house."

He snatched the document from her hands, scanning it over before mumbling a curse to himself, "I'm still taking in your aunt and uncle." He finally said, "I'm Inspector Payne by the way," He added, Pamela scoffed.

"Wow… Am I supposed to be scared when you introduce yourself? And what the hell are you doing arresting them? Who have they supposed to have killed anyway?"

Payne gave her a patronising stare before pulling out a photograph and putting it in front of Pamela's face, making her cringe and turning away, "Redhead, late twenties, found in this state on your attic floor. Emma DeLauro." He stated before putting the photo back in his jacket.

"What the hell makes you think they killed Emma?" Pamela exclaimed.

"Apart from the fact that evidence proves she was killed in the location she was found, the will relinquishing custody of Lorna Throughway to your aunt and uncle, combined with Miss DeLauro being killed only literally hours of writing the will, gives us reason to believe that they killed her to get custody of the baby."

Pamela had to hold back a laugh. She had forgot that on Lorna's creation, the world had been changed, made to believe that Emma had been pregnant for the full nine months before giving birth in San Francisco Memorial. For some reason, even those who knew the truth about the baby's origins also had their memories altered, except from the fact they knew they weren't real.

"You can't-," Pamela again, only to be cut off by her aunt.

"No… We'll go…" Piper murmured, looking at her feet before shooting a look at Pamela that said "Look after the kids and hide the magic stuff." The teen was impressed at the fact that Piper could convey that message in one look.

"Alright then…" He turned back towards the couple, "You do not have to say anything, although anything you say will be given in as evidence. If you cannot afford an attorney then one will be appointed to you…" Payne continued as his fellow officers escorted Piper and Leo out of the door.

"Um… I'll figure this out! Somehow…" Pamela yelled out of the door. Her eyes were still red from crying as they began to sprout fresh tears. She gritted her teeth, feeling that she couldn't break down right now, but then again, was there ever a right time to break down? It was in that very moment as she watched Piper and Leo being hustled into a cop car, that Pamela realised her family was falling apart.

And she couldn't do a damn thing about it.

* * *

**NEXT TIME:** With both eldest and youngest Charmed Ones out of commission, Phoebe feels the strain of being the only active Halliwell witch left. An incident at the castle leaves Paige wondering about where she stands with Aidan, Piper and Leo try to resist the temptation of escaping the precinct jail and will Pamela survive under the scrutiny of Social Services.

Chapter 33 will be up soon!


	33. Jailhouse Witches

Anianka – I actually have no idea how the law works in the states either! I just hope I don't get anything too wrong that would make the story look crap. I hoping that since Pam is 18, she's old enough to be considered their legal guardian until Piper and Leo get back. It's good you liked it! Thanks for taking the time to review.

Princess Pinky – Heh, I hoped I had covered all by bases with the arrest. Ha, I thought it would quite characteristic of Pamela to blow up Andy. And I'm so glad you're pleased with my portrayal of Persia, I thought she would be a good person for Pamela to talk to since Persia would probably react the same way if her father came back :P I'm glad you noticed the toys, I thought I would be sorta ironic to bring it up at that moment when Prue had wanted to save them for her kids. Thanks for taking the time to review.

Phoebe turner – Thanks!

Loz – Thanks! The final chapter is going to be quite Connor centered!

Prince Halliwell – Yeah, I'll find a happy ending for them, don't worry. Thanks for reviewing.

Clegs – Heh, you're welcome. Thanks for reviewing!

Piperfairy – I thought I would be good for Piper to blow up the urn instead of Paige just shaking out its contents. And yeah, I just keep them coming lol.

Chyp – Thanks!

Pyrena – Yeah, I've sorta been putting a lot of emotion into these last few chapters. I'm glad you liked all of it! Thanks for reviewing!

Fanmania – Thanks for reviewing!

Jadelouise – Thanks for the review!

**Jailhouse Witches**

Pamela lent back in the uncomfortable metal chair she was currently residing in, she had her legs crossed over one another, her right foot twitching vigorously as she glared at the officer on the other side of the glass. The witch frowned at the man, who kept a face of stone, matching her gaze. Pamela leaned over to Phoebe, who had her hands on the surface in front of the glass as she twiddled her thumbs nervously.

"You know, I could probably blow up the glass and take the guards out in five seconds if you want to organize a little jail break…" The teen whispered. Phoebe turned to her with a skeptical look.

"Don't even think about it…" She said in a hushed voice.

The metal door groaned as it was opened. Phoebe and Pamela immediately stood up, looking towards the open door on the other side of the glass that was supposed to separate them from criminals. Piper had her head bowed as she was led out gently by a female officer, who gave the Halliwell a compassionate smile before letting her walk to the desk on her own.

Phoebe couldn't believe it, even in jail her sister managed to look good. Immaculate white sneakers adorned her feet while her long dark hair was tied back in a ponytail, what was even more surprising was that Piper actually suited the orange jump suit that she was wearing. The only part of her that looked bad was her eyes, the spark and light that made her who she was seemed to have been snuffed, and was replaced by a look of sadness and shame.

The middle Charmed One groaned and rubbed her temples as her empathy channeled Piper's migraine, not to mention the numb feeling in her chest, something that could only be caused by her sister's depressed state.

"Hi." Piper beamed, trying to convince the two witches that she was okay, when her eyes told a completely different story all together.

"Hey," Phoebe waved her hand a little with a weak smile, "I would hug you, but…" She pawed at the glass and rolled her eyes before all three of them sat down, "How you doing, sweetie?" She asked, holding her hand up to the glass.

"Well, I-," Piper began, raising her hands to the glass to match her sister's hand, "I'm doing okay. Darryl came in and said he's do the best he could to keep Leo and I here for as long as possible before getting transferred to a prison."

Phoebe's eyes widened, "Prison? Oh my God…"

"I'm still trying to get over the fact that they think you killed Emma to get _more_ kids. If anything, you would have killed her to get Lorna put into foster care or something, not to get custody. I mean, has that Payne guy even got children?" Pamela snapped and folded her arms again with a scowl.

"Yeah, cause that's _really_ what Social Services want to hear!" Piper shot back with a raised an eyebrow before shooting a pleading look to Phoebe, who smiled at her.

"Don't worry, I'll be there to make sure she behaves herself tomorrow," The middle Charmed One turned to her niece, "The last thing we need is Lorna and the boys taken out of the Manor."

"How are you coping with four kids?" Piper asked, completely oblivious to all the proceedings that were taking place outside.

"I'm not," Phoebe said simply, "Brennan's staying at the house with Connor and I'm sleeping on the sofa at the Manor."

"Why? Pam's great with the boys."

"Yeah, the boys," Pamela interjected, "I don't do babies."

"But you can't do that." She looked at Phoebe, "If it looks like you have to help Pamela, they'll take the kids away. She, right now, is their legal guardian. If she's not seen fit to look after them, Social Services will take them away and-,"

"The worst thing that can happen is that Brennan and I get temporary custody of the kids. I mean, we can be trusted, Connor's almost two and has never had a bruise or cut grace his skin."

"I'm not completely incompetent," Pamela suddenly started, "I managed to wrangle Wyatt when he orbed away from the dinner table last night. I gave him a time out and told him not to use magic like that."

Piper smirked, "You're usually the one who lets him away with stuff too…"

"Yeah, he tried pulled the 'you used to be cool' card on me, but I stood my ground."

Phoebe nodded in agreement, "She did, and I would have given in to that."

"Why? Because your street cred with the kids is important these days, Pheebs?" Piper folded her arms and smiled.

"No, I will always be Cool Aunt Phoebe…" Phoebe pouted her lips and made a face while posing slightly making Pamela and Piper laugh. She laughed with them until she looked at her watch, "Oh, c'mon, we better get back to the house. How do you think your Dad's doing with the kids?"

Pamela's eyes widened, "Aw… crap! We better go; they might have tied him a chair… again. Little horrors…" She muttered. "We'll come and visit you tomorrow, hopefully with good news!"

"I'm really sorry honey; I'll bring you a basket of muffins or something." Phoebe offered.

"You don't bake." Piper pointed out.

"Oh… Well, I'll bring you something, just hang there, okay?" The middle Charmed One gave her sister a sympathetic stare and a nod before rising with her niece.

Phoebe rubbed her eyes gently, fighting the weariness that threatened to overwhelm her. This was all beginning to get too much for the empath to withstand. Everything had spiraled out of control since Grant's death. Lorna, Emma, the spirits that fought for control of her and Pamela… When would it all come to a stop? When would it finally end and let her and her family live peacefully?

"Hey, Pheebs, unlock the car." Pamela jiggled the handle on her side of the car.

"Oh… right… sorry," Phoebe murmured, not even realizing that she had walked to her car. She was scattered beyond belief, and it would only be a matter of time before she cracked.

* * *

Phoebe stifled a yawn as she waited for the lights to change, closing her eyes for a brief second until she felt a change in the light in front of her. She wrenched her eyelids apart and pushed down on the pedal. Pamela shifted in the seat next to her, deciding to speak after sitting silently for the entire journey.

"You know, these back streets are pretty dead at this time of night. You could have just gone through that." She offered with a slightly snappish tone.

Phoebe glanced at her niece, "With everything going on with Piper and Leo right now, I'm not taking my chances with the law, even with the smallest things you can't be too careful," She retorted, turning back to the road and leaning her elbow upon the door, holding her head up with her hand.

As if by chance, she noticed a glimmer out of the corner of her eye. Confused, Phoebe look around her immediate area, her nose crinkling up in thought before she glanced at her side mirror. Her eyes immediately widened when she did, she saw the black Jeep behind them, with a man leaning out of the back seat window, preparing to launch the energy ball in this hand.

Her body acted without her mind's consent, suddenly whipping the steering wheel to the left and causing the car to swerve violently onto the other side of the road. Phoebe ignored the curses flying from Pamela's mouth, as they were cut off when the teen saw the energy ball zip along side them, crashing into the ground and leaving a scorch mark on the tarmac.

"You've gotta be fucking kidding me!" Pamela bellowed as she looked back, seeing another demon leaning out the other side of the Jeep and preparing another attack. She looked ahead, "Right!" She screamed. Phoebe complied, spinning the wheel and returning the car to the right side of the road just in time to see the blue energy whistle past and fizzle out on the road.

"We need to stay away from the main areas!" Phoebe screamed, swerving again and seeing that the enemy's aim was getting better, and quicker than she would have liked. Looking to her niece for suggestions, she was only met with a strong wind hitting her face and Pamela on her way out the window. "What the-!"

"Keep it steady!" Pamela screamed, holding onto the roof as she positioned herself on the door. She took a moment to move her hair from her face as the wind howled in her ears, before using her free hand to attack. The driver must have seen and recognized her gesture, as the black vehicle immediately swerved and Pamela ended up blowing up a chunk of the road.

Phoebe rolled her eyes and snapped at her niece, "For God's sakes Pam! Send that thing to junk yard! Don't sit there making potholes!"

"Shut the hell up and drive, woman!" Pamela shrieked back, gesturing again and blowing up the road, causing a spew of concrete to erupt near the car and forcing them to turn off the road. The teen smiled at her efforts, "We've lost them!" She said, taking her hand off the roof as the car slowed down.

Phoebe grinned for a moment before gasped and slamming down on the brakes; the demon's car had somehow passed them and had cut them off, driving out in front of the Mini and blocking them off. Unfortunately, Pamela didn't brace herself in time and she was thrown from the car, flying forwards and hitting the cement as she fell.

"Pam!" The middle Charmed One quickly undid her seatbelt and left the car, running towards her unconscious niece and cradling her head, knowing that if Pamela didn't regain consciousness, she would be dead.

Phoebe looked up, seeing four demons advancing on her, all of them bouncing energy balls in their hands in an arrogant manner. Knowing she wouldn't go down without a fight, the Halliwell took an offensive stance and prepared to do battle.

"Aboleo!"

There was a flash before a pulse of golden energy flew outwards. It ripped through the demons, their screams becoming distant echoes as they were vanquished instantly, before the wave of gold went through the Jeep. The destructive power caused a large explosion in the engine, which literally threw the car up into the air, consumed in flames before falling back to the road with a clang and one last explosion which forced Phoebe to the ground.

She groaned as she opened her eyes, only to see her niece's ankles as she stood confidently. Phoebe managed to get onto her feet, waiting her Pamela to turn around, but she spoke first, and when Phoebe heard the rich Scottish accent, her heart sunk.

"How foolish. I suppose it won't be long until all of this century's… creations, are consumed in flames…" Pamela said with a hint of disdain and superiority

The middle Charmed One let out a sigh, "Prudence…." She whispered.

The teen suddenly whipped around, revealing a fading golden shimmer in her eyes, "You're a clever witch… I can see that my decision to send Charlotte to the New World was indeed to my advantage. Although I would have liked for my resurrection vessel to have been a little closer to home, but I shall work with what I have." Phoebe began to move towards her, taking a fighting stance, "Lucus," Prudence said firmly, holding her hand in front of her victim.

"What…. Did you do?" Phoebe breathed, struggling to move her limbs as the spell effected her.

"This will hold you, at least until I am far from here. Farewell, my daughter." She said mockingly with a smirk, before striding off down an alleyway and leaving Phoebe suspended where she stood, struggling to move.

* * *

A long sliver of moonlight shone through the tall window in Paige's room. The silver light was thrown across the youngest Charmed One's face as she slept, her body covered by a heavenly silk sheet while her dark locks were splayed out on the royal blue pillow beneath her head. She stirred in her sleep, subconsciously pulling the sheet up more around herself when a chilling wind flew through the room.

Sandy, who had been lying on the end of the bed, instantly raised her head, scanning the room with her deep brown eyes, a low growl passed from her mouth before the Labrador went back to lying on the bed. There was a creak on the floor, again Sandy was instantly awake, ears twitching madly and growling at something in the room. The noise caused Paige to stir again. This time, she awoke, squinting against the moonlight and sitting up to see what had woken her, the witch sighed when she saw the dog crouched in a stance, growling at something.

"Sandy, be quiet." She hissed, "You'll wake up the girls," The golden furred canine continued to snarl at something. "Bad dog, lie down." Paige clicked her fingers, still Sandy continued to growl.

Paige rolled her eyes and was about to lie back down, when she saw something put pressure on the sheet at the base of the bed. The sheet was pressed down, and before Paige could do anything, something clamped around her mouth. All she could do was whimper as a sharp pain suddenly sprouted in her abdomen; the witch looked down and saw blood pouring from her stomach, before a familiar sting erupted in her eyes.

Her vision changed, instead of the room around her, she was met with the face of a person. Blue skin, shock white hair and a look of perverse pleasure as the person raised a bloodied athame to strike her again. It was the maid from the previous day! Using the last of her strength, Paige closed her eyes and concentrated. A red glow appeared right next to her as her astral self was conjured in a scarlet flare. There was just one problem; she didn't have her multi-dimensional sight in this form. It was then she noticed a line of crimson liquid floating in midair, the athame. She was about to launch herself at the invisible assailant, before there was a feral growl as Sandy leaped onto the attacker, teeth bared as she tackled her off the bed. Paige felt her astral self being pulled back to die with her body, she bowed her head, and just as a ruby red light consumed her, one hoarse whisper of a word passed her lips.

"Aidan…"

She was silenced as her projection dissolved and returned to its vessel. The last things Paige heard were the screams of the maid as Sandy mauled her owner's attacker, and the cries of her children as they felt their mother's light being snuffed from the world………

Aidan awoke with a jolt; sitting bolt up right and wide awake with his heart pounding. It hurt, he couldn't think what was hurting, but something was causing a painful feeling of dread to tug at his heart. He had never felt anything like it before, it was as if something was being ripped away from him.

A needing urge suddenly washed over the elemental, he pushed off the covers of his bed and threw himself onto his feet, running out of the room just in boxers and a wifebeater, and sprinting down the long hall, his feet pounding on the carpeted floorboards as he ran. Without a millisecond of hesitation, he threw open the door to Paige's room and his heart hurt even more when he saw his ex bleeding to death on the bed.

He ran to the bed, not noticing the pool of crimson on the floor as he sat next to Paige, holding his hands over her wound and mustering as much healing power as he could. Aidan squinted his eyes from the harsh blue light emitting from his palms, before breathing a sigh of relief as Paige gasped for air to renew her life.

"Hey…" He stroked her hair as she looked her surroundings, "You okay?"

Paige lifted herself up, moving away from his touch, "Yeah…"

"What the hell happened?" He asked with a hint of fury in his voice, angry that could this happen in his castle, especially to Paige.

She looked around the room, trying to remember the turn of events, "Um… She was about to stab me again, my powers advanced at the last minute… Then, Sandy…" Paige looked around for any signs of her beloved pet, beginning to worry when there was no sign of the dog, "Where is she? Are the kids okay?"

Aidan smiled at her a little, "The kids are fine. They slept right through whatever happened, and Sandy…" He quickly scanned the room, "She's not here."

"What?" Paige breathed, putting her heart to her chest, "Did she maybe run out of the door when you came in?"

The elemental shook his head, "I think I would have noticed if a fully grown Labrador had run past me. Just calm down and we'll-," He just interrupted by Paige throwing off her covers and look down at her pajamas as she stood up.

"Aw… crap. I got blood on this." She pouted, looking at her top.

"And my bed…" Aidan murmured, avoiding her gaze.

Paige frowned, "What do you mean?"

"I thought you would have figured it out by now." He smiled, "This is my room."

The witchlighter spun around on the spot, looking around and observing that, out of all the rooms in the castle, this one had seemed to be the grandest. With its high ceilings, amazing view of the city, and unbelievably comfortable bed, Paige couldn't believe she hadn't realized sooner. It now explained why the maid had been so icy that previous day, she probably thought that Paige wasn't deserving of this room, of her king. She would have to dwell on it later though, as she saw a pool of blood next to the bed.

"Aidan…" She whispered, catching his attention and pointing to the blood, thinking the invisible attacker.

He looked over the bed, somehow knowing that Paige thought her assailant was cloaked on the floor. Aidan pounced to the floor, hitting the carpet with the thud. There was no one there, just blood. The elemental looked back, shaking his head at Paige, whose nose crinkled in thought.

Not wanting to have to rely on her MDS advancement, the witch quickly threw together a spell that would have the desired effect she wanted, "Within these walls, evil has been, reveal to me, expose the scene." Paige waited for the murdering maid to show herself, but when nothing happened, she sighed, "I don't get this…"

"Unless…" Aidan began, standing up and groaning, burying his face in his hands, "Unless the whole thing was planned and they've taken Sandy for mauling their key fighter… How could I have been so stupid?"

Paige narrowed her eyes in anger, "They? You mean they've united to take me out? Aidan, lemme tell you, your staff aren't friendly people. Go get dressed; we're going to find my dog."

"Okay, I'll just summon the nanny and-,"

The witch let out a laugh, "If you think I'm leaving my children in the clutches of your homicidal staff, then you are seriously mistaken. They can come with us,"

Aidan gaped, "But they're asleep and-,"

"Vulnerable to athame wielding maids. Now get out, I need to get dressed." She announced before making her way over a dresser.

The elemental rolled his eyes, "It's not I haven't seen what's under there. The birth mark on your thigh, the little scar on your side, the tattoo on your left-,"

"Stop it." Paige said with a hint of amusement in her voice, turning her head and glancing at her behind, "You don't get to see anymore. Now go, shoo," She began to push him out of the room, "And just so you know… you're not the only one who can remember certain…" She looked him up and down with a smirk, "Defining characteristics or their ex's body." Paige then proceeded to slam the door in his face, leaving Aidan to turn a dark shade of red before walking back down the corridor

Paige got to thinking as she pulled out clothes from the dresser. How was it that Aidan had known to come and heal her? She hadn't been able to scream at all and she certainly hadn't been able to use her powers to contact him. No, she thought, it had been something of his; something had called out to him. It was there it hit Paige hard; the thing that had called out to Aidan had been a burst of love activated by her pain.

A love between soulmates.

* * *

"Dammit…" Phoebe growled as the umpteenth drawer proved to hold no scrying crystal. She knelt down, pulling out another drawer of the dresser and cursing again when it was filled with useless trinkets. The witch turned to her husband who was standing at the Book of Shadows, "You know, I used to be able to find stuff in this attic,"

Brennan smirked, turning another page in the book, "Well, you haven't lived in this house for about three years. Piper's probably moved stuff around since then." He replied calmly.

"Yeah, but we agreed that the magical stuff should always be in that dresser." She pointed towards the cabinet, "So the three of us could find it in an emergency, and I think a psychotic, power driven, body snatching, 17th Century witch taking over Pam sorta qualifies."

"Hey," Andy greeted as he came into the room, slowing down from a jogging pace, "Is this what you're looking for?" He held up a deep red crystal attached to the metal cradle and a metal chain.

Phoebe raised an eyebrow, taking it from the man, "No, the crystal is purple, and…" She trailed off when she noticed the letter P engraved into the side of the red rock and that the cradle was made of silver, "Oh my God…"

"What?" Andy frowned, "This not what you're looking for?"

"No, it's not. It's a whole lot better than what I was looking for!" She pointed out the letter to Andy and Brennan, "This is Prue's personal scrying crystal." Phoebe stared at it with marvel before hitting Andy on the chest, "You were a detective for most of your adult life and you can't even find a scrying crystal? Not to mention you've been a whitelighter for nearly a decade and you had to ask me what a scrying crystal even looks like."

"Honey…" Brennan came up behind her and rubbed her shoulders, "What's so important the crystal?"

Phoebe sighed, "It belonged to Prue. She had it made out of a garnet, very powerful scrying gem, not to mention expensive. We never saw the need to spend so much money on magical equipment, but…" She looked up at Andy, "You know Prue…"

He smiled, "Yeah…"

"I can't believe it. Piper told me it got lost years ago when we were packing away Prue's stuff after…" She trailed off, the death of her sister being a sensitive subject, "Where did you find it?"

"In Pam's room." He replied simply, glaring at nothing in particular as he summoned his memory, "Wasn't that Prue's room before Paige moved in? Then Paige moved out and Pam got her room."

Phoebe frowned, "How do you know all that? Prue switched rooms with Piper _after_ you died." She smirked, "Just how long have you been watching us?"

He grinned in response, "Nearly a decade," Was his reply, mimicking her from earlier, "It was under the bed, and I know for a fact that that bed hasn't been moved in years, so that explains where it went."

"Can you use it?" Brennan asked, staring at the garnet as it was caught in the light.

"Are you kidding? Garnets are highly sensitive and responsive to magic; I'll find that three hundred year old teenager in a heartbeat! Now where the hell is that damn map?" Phoebe clutched the gem in her hand as she began to look around the attic.

"Yeah, but even if we find her, who says we have the power to stop her without your sisters?" Brennan argued, "From what I've heard, she's pretty strong and I don't think she's going to give up Pam's body without a fight,"

"Well…" Phoebe began, "I'm thinking we won't have to, I mean she has to have a limit to how much she can use her magic. With any luck, we'll be able to weaken her enough for Pam to take control again."

"And what about without any luck?" Andy added solemnly.

Phoebe didn't answer as she pulled a map out of a wooden chest, "Then we do the best we can," She replied, before murmuring something only she could hear, "Until I'm put in mortal danger…" The witch added quietly, silently concocting a Plan B.

* * *

Paige walked down the dark castle corridor, clutching protectively to a drowsy Melinda who had rested her head on her mother's shoulder. Emma however, was much more alert, scanning the hall with big emerald green eyes before reaching for a shield that was resting on the wall. Aidan struggled to keep his daughter in his arms as she reached for anything that was bathed in moonlight.

"Emsy, no." He gently brought the infant's arm back from its pointing gesture and pulled her back to his chest. It wasn't long before Emma succumbed to her fatigue and fell asleep in her father's arms, "These kids could sleep through a nuclear holocaust!" Aidan hissed to Paige.

She grinned at him, "I know," She lovingly stroked Melinda's head, "That get it from me. So do you know where we're going?"

"Yeah, the throne room."

"Why there?"

Aidan narrowed his eyes, "Because I can sense them there, it's as if they're taunting me to come to them." He growled, his voice dripping with venom as he spoke. "Here we are." The elemental announced.

Paige looked up at the large glass doors, water swishing around within them as the Atlantian crest glowed eerily on the surface. She hated these doors. These doors represented everything that had caused her pain in the last two years. The witchlighter glared at them as moonlight from the throne room shone through, illuminating the water in the doors and casting a rainbow of colours across the four of them.

"What do we do?" She asked, turning to her ex as he surveyed the doors.

His brow creased in thought, "Okay," He began, "These doors are an optical illusion. It may look like there's not a lot of water, but there are thousands of gallons in the glass. So, you shatter the glass with a spell, and I'll send the water into the throne room like a tidal wave."

"And what's to stop that water from coming down on us? Can you divert that much?"

"Well, I'm an elemental, not to mention a divine spirit," Aidan smirked in response, "Don't you trust me?"

Paige laughed and looked at her sleeping daughter, "Let's not get into that right now." She looked up at the doors, "You ready for this?" He nodded in response, "Alright… Glass that holds the water in, shatter it now, in a din."

Just as the spell instructed, the glass was smashed in a thunderous pulse. Paige felt strange as Emma's watery shield went through her, protecting the four of them from the shards of glass that were raining down on them. The witch expected to see Aidan make a gesture, but he just stared at the water with an intense glare, almost willing it to move forward. As if on command, the torrent flew into the throne room, a whooshing sound hit Paige's ears as it hit the floor, before screams of anguish could be heard and she realized the one major flaw in their plan.

"Sandy!" Paige screamed, running into the hall as the water subsided and unconscious forms of the servants could be seen. The witchlighter had suppress a laugh when she saw her dog, shaking vigorously, water flying from her coat as she tried to dry herself off. "Hey girl!" She beamed, kneeling down and scratching Sandy's ear.

Aidan grabbed the collar of his advisor Gerald, who was currently spluttering as he coughed up water. The elemental lowered his head and began to talk so quietly that he knew that Paige wouldn't be able to hear him. He turned away slightly so that Emma wouldn't see.

"I suppose you're responsible for this?" He snarled.

"That… animal is a monster!" The old man breathed, trying to get air into his water filled lungs as he spoke, "We brought it here to end its life of ferocity… It mauled-,"

"It's owner's attacker? Pretty loyal dog, don't you think? You could a thing or two about loyalty from her. Do you remember what I said would happen to you if you acted in anyway that suggested you thought Paige and my daughters were below me?" Aidan's once kind, peaceful deep green eyes were now steely and harsh.

"You said that I would roam the Royal Tunnels until my dying day…" Gerald choked, before breaking out into a malicious grin, "But I've known you most of your life, sire. You don't have the will to take a life."

Aidan cocked an eyebrow, "Really?" He suddenly threw his head forward, head butting the man and rendering him unconscious as he fell to the floor, "Enjoy the tunnels…" He made a rough hand gesture, causing Gerald to be consumed in a searing steam before evaporating completely.

"Alright…" Paige suddenly announced, walking towards him with her hand gripping Sandy's collar, "What are you going to do with these guys?" Aidan guessed that she hadn't seen what he had just done, it was better that way. He looked around at all the unconscious staff members that were currently drenched in water. The elemental could only think of one thing to say as he turned to Paige with a smile on his face.

"Fire them."

* * *

Prudence kept close the side of the crate, skulking in the shadows and quickly taking a step back as two men who worked in the docks passed by. Her haunting blue eyes followed the two people as they walked away from her. The only obstructions left were the three men talking to one another as they ate sandwiches outside the trailer meant for workers of the docks.

"Instigo…" The witch whispered, making a small gesture at the group and watching as the three men suddenly groaned, holding their stomachs and running towards a row of portable toilets. The witch smirked at her magic working before creeping out the darkness.

"Stop her now, don't let her go far, snare my victim, as if in tar!"

Prudence felt a surge of magic flow around her, constricting and binding her where she stood. This power was familiar to her, extremely similar to her own brand of magic. "The witch…" Prudence growled, hearing the clicking of moving feet and seeing a person coming towards her out of the corner of her eye.

"How do you like my powers?" Phoebe gave her ancestor a glare as she folded her arms, scrunching up the spell in her hand and dropping it to the ground.

The immobile witch bared her teeth slightly as the spell became stronger, only enabling her to move her eyes and mouth, "You think you can stop me with your powers? They come from me! I created them! That is where your abilities lie and not in my failure of a granddaughter."

"Don't you dare talk about Melinda like that." The Charmed One spat, fighting the urge to bring the back of her hand across her niece's face as it would hurt Pamela more than Prudence in the long run.

The teen's hand twitched without Phoebe noticing, "Although, I must admit that her prophecy has come to pass with extreme benefits. If your sister hadn't been _Charmed_…" She sneered at the use of that word, "She wouldn't have been able to spawn a daughter strong enough to withstand my powers."

"We're your family. You're the reason Pam and I exist, why do you want to fight us?" Phoebe pleaded, admitting that she didn't understand why their ancestor had fought and attempted to kill them ever since her existence had arisen.

She rolled her eyes in response, "I don't fight you, you are the ones who stand in my way." Prudence grinned as she felt the spell ware off, "And right now…" She shook her body and smirked, "You're in my way. Altivolus!" The witch's hand shone with a golden white glow as she hit Phoebe on the side of the face, sending her flying across the dock and crashing through a tower of shipping pallets.

"Hey!" Brennan's voice boomed as he ran down the midsection of where many entrances to different warehouses were, swirling his wrists and summoning all the electricity he could muster in his hands. The elemental mutant threw out his arms, slews of voltage flying from his fingertips and heading for his possessed niece.

"Avoco!" Prudence screamed, power surging from her voice as the two tesla coils Brennan had thrown suddenly bent around her body before making contact. The electricity came into contact with a large suspended net of fish, causing the ropes to break for hundreds of large fish to fall directly onto Phoebe, who was still recovering from Prudence's throw.

Although he would never admit it, Brennan had to suppress his laughter when he heard a squeal of horror from Phoebe underneath all the fish before turning his attention back to Prudence, who also found amusement in her descendant's predicament.

"Is this all you have to offer in ways of a fight?" The witch taunted, a white glow appearing in her hands as silently cast another spell, "Pathetic." She spat, before throwing out her hands and releasing two powerful plumes of golden flames towards her enemy.

Thinking quickly, Brennan clenched his fists and charged them up with electricity before opening them and being propelled into the air by the pent up voltage in his palms as blue sparks flew from his hands. He winced as the fire ripped through his feet, this caused the mutant to lose his balance mid-flight and fall to the ground in a crumpled heap.

"No!" Phoebe hissed as she regained her feet, only to slip on the fluid that was on the ground after the fish had fell, "My foe is strong, my need is dire, trap her in a cage of fire!"

A ring of hot orange flames encircled the witch, who smirked at her descendant before raising her hands and casting another enchantment, "Abolesco illa flamma." She said calmly as the fire began to rise around her. A chilling wind flew from her hands, causing the fire to be swept up and fade away magically.

"Damn…" Phoebe cursed as she stood back up to face her attacker.

"This is getting weak." Prudence stated, walking towards Phoebe, "As are you." She snarled, raising her hand and rolling her wrist, playing with the jet of golden flames that was wound around her arm like a snake before the fire began to take the shape of a dragon's head.

Phoebe gave her a fearful look, "In this night and in this hour, I call upon…" She closed her eyes as she tried to remember the rest of the spell, "upon… the ancient power!" The witch shouted triumphantly before realizing the rest of the charm was a blank to her.

Prudence smirked as her descendant closed her eyes and waited for the fire to come to her. She was about to fire when she felt someone tap her shoulder. Turning round, the witch was met with a pair of glowing, sparking, voltage filled eyes. Before she knew it, something struck the side of her face and she was thrown high into the air before crashing through the roof of a warehouse and landing onto the ground with her nose and head bleeding.

"Brennan?" Phoebe breathed, before flinching at the sound of a booming clap of thunder rumbling the sky. She frowned when she realized the sky was completely clear, where had the thunder come from.

Her attention was diverted to the sight of her husband. Brennan was walking into the warehouse that Prudence had just landed in, and within his hand, there was a biggest hammer Phoebe had ever seen in her life. It was entirely made of some sort of deep blue metal that gleamed even though no light was upon it. The head was covered in intricate and beautiful carvings as the mutant had the weapon slung over his shoulder. The handle seemed to quite long, covered in the same patterns that covered the head, except from the jagged metal that covered everywhere apart from the spaces for holding.

Prudence barely managed to hold herself up by her elbows. The left side of her face had completely caved in after the hammer's assault as she tried to speak and protect herself with a spell. The witch mumbled something outstretched her hand, staring into the humming blue eyes with her one good green one.

"You have endangered Magni's guardians for the final time." Brennan growled, his voice sounded almost mechanic as spoke. He was about to bring the hammer down on his prey and finish her off, when it glowed with a whitish gold and tried to rip itself from Brennan's hands. The elemental just smirked and yanked at the hammer, breaking Prudence's last attempt at a spell and preparing to crush the teen into a lifeless pulp.

"Hey." Someone said, tapping him on the shoulder. Brennan turned around with a smirk to see Phoebe standing behind him, staring into the sparking eyes before suddenly swinging a large fish in his face. It made a high pitched slapping sound at the wet scales contacted with his skin, rendering him unconscious as he fell to the ground and dropping the gigantic hammer with a resounding clang.

Phoebe looked towards Prudence, hoping that she wouldn't attempt another attack. But when she saw a golden glimmer pass over the green eyes, the middle Charmed One began to panic as she realized Pamela was back. She caught her niece just before she was about to fall back to the floor, silently wishing she wasn't alone.

* * *

Leo brought his hands away from Pamela's face as he finished healing her. She gave him a silent thank you with a smile before standing up and looking out of the small barred window. She rubbed her left temple and winced before turning towards her uncle and giving him a weary glance.

"I really don't think my face is ever going to be the same again." She whispered, looking into the small mirror above the sink in the jail cell.

Phoebe smirked, leaning on the wall as she stretched her legs out on the floor, "You look fine, no one would ever know that your uncle had just smacked half your face off with a hammer the size of a wrecker ball." She looked up at Brennan, who was leaning against the wall with his arms folded.

"I said was sorry, and I wasn't even in cont-," He was cut off when he suddenly fell through the wall, there was a yelp of pain and the wall suddenly became solid. Phoebe grinned when she heard her sister.

"Dammit Brennan!" Piper hissed. The wall became a mass of fuzzy particles as the eldest Charmed One walked through with Brennan in tow, slapping him on the shoulder once they were both through, "Couldn't you have just sat on the bed? I could have been crushed!" She raved.

Brennan rolled his eyes and plopped down on the floor next to Phoebe, "Are all female members of your family as dramatic as Pam and Piper?"

She gave him a smile, "Pretty much," She replied, giving him a peck on the cheek and holding his hand until he grimaced and stood up.

"Sorry honey, but being caught in a downpour of fish just doesn't agree with you." He chuckled slightly, only to be kicked in the shin by his wife.

"It's your fault I stink right now! Besides, that cheek of yours wasn't exactly heaven to kiss either, but neither would mine if it had just been slapped with a trout." She shot back with a smirk.

"The last thing I remember is being thrown out of the car when those demons where chasing us." Pamela suddenly piped up, frowning as she recalled the final moments before her possession.

"They must have been lower level if they had to chase us in a car. It was the most ridiculous demon fight I've ever seen…" Phoebe commented, groaning as she remembered.

"Where's… Dad?" Pamela finally said, looking down to avoid the beaming faces of her relatives after using that word.

"He's looking after the kids." Brennan replied, "We had to go and get you back after your past life almost made off with your body."

Pamela shivered slightly, "Ugh… You got possessed too. And at least I didn't knock someone's face off."

"Yeah…" The mutant looked down at his feet, "The last thing I remember is coming down to the ground after blasting into the air." Brennan mused, "Although I got a glimpse of the hammer before it disappeared."

"I think it must have been the same force that took over Phoebe, or at least something akin to it," Leo added, "It seems to just center on the two of you."

Footsteps were suddenly heard outside of the cell, the beam from a flashlight ignited the corridor. Someone was coming. Piper suddenly grabbed Pamela before taking Phoebe's hand and urging her to take Brennan's. Once all four were connected, the eldest Halliwell suddenly began to disappear from sight, this was channeled towards the other three and soon they were invisible.

Once the warden once in front of the cell, he shone the flashlight in Leo's face, who turned away and winced from the harshness. He was about to move on and check Piper's cell, when he suddenly stopped moving in mid stride. The four witches became visible again and Piper turned to the others with a hint of urgency.

"Quick, write a spell and get out of here."

"Wait, when did you get your freezing power back?" Phoebe pointed to the guard who was suspended in motion.

Piper rolled her eyes, "Does that really matter? Just get out of here!" She hissed, before turning into a body of fuzzy particles and phasing back through the wall.

Phoebe sighed as she began to think of a spell. At was four a.m. and they still hadn't prepared for the visit from Social Services that would be happening in around six hours. The middle Charmed One had considered calling Paige back for the meeting, as her experience and know how would have come in handy in a situation like this, but Phoebe realized that her sister would need more time. It was at times like this when she missed Emma extremely; she hadn't realized just how important she had become to their cause, even just as an extra set of hands when you needed them. As they were enveloped in a swathe of lights from Phoebe's spell the three of them began to realize that the very future of the family lay in the success of tomorrow.

For to fail, would mean dire consequences.

* * *

_Well, I thought I should cut it off there and leave the Social Services visit for the next chapter. Can any of you guess what took over Brennan? I have you enough info in this chapter to figure it out!_

**NEXT TIME:** Demons attack at the worst possible time when Social Services come to visit. Phoebe and Pamela take drastic action, including busting Leo and Piper out of jail and using their magic in public for too many times. As her family comes crashing down around her ears, Piper makes a plea to whoever may be listening… But just who is listening?

Chapter 34 will be up soon!


	34. A Prayer For The Magical

_I know this chapter looks long, but the preview for the next fic is at the bottom! I don't have time for replies again, I know, this is a nasty habit, but I'll get on track soon, I promise._

**A Prayer For The Magical**

Pamela quickly tied her hair back into a tight ponytail, moving her bangs away from her face and tucking them behind her ears. She looked down at her hands, which were shaking violently. She had never been so scared in her life, and she had been in a lot of frightening situations. Turning to her aunt for advice, she flattened out the creases in her ankle length skirt and gave Phoebe a toothy grin.

"Okay, how do I look?" She asked, pulling the grey cardigan around her top half and smiling.

Phoebe cringed and covered her mouth to suppress her laughter, "Erm… You look a little like a nun." She admitted, pursing her lips, "Look, go upstairs, let your hair down, and put on a pair of jeans." Pamela sighed and began to walk back up the stairs, "And burn those clothes!" Phoebe shouted after her.

"With pleasure!" The teen hollered back, making a saluting gesture and disappearing up the staircase.

Phoebe was about to flop back on the couch, when crying suddenly sounded from the solarium and Wyatt's voice saying, "Chris! Give it back!" The middle Charmed One groaned and walked through to see her youngest nephew sitting on the floor pouting, while Lorna screamed on the play mat that was set on the floor.

"What happened?" She asked, putting her hands on her hips. Neither Wyatt nor Chris answered, "Someone better start talking," Phoebe warned.

Her blonde nephew suddenly pointed to his little brother, "Chris took that out of Lorna's mouth! When you told us 'no powers'!" Wyatt confessed, earning a searing look of betrayal from his sibling.

Phoebe frowned, "Took what?" She asked, before noticing a pink pacifier in Chris's little clenched fist. The witch sighed, bending down and hoisting Lorna to her hip before holding her hand out to her nephew, "Chris, give me that. Now." She used a firm tone when scolding him.

Scowling at his aunt, Chris threw the pacifier at her with all the force he could muster, before turning away and being devoured by a swirl of white lights that took him through the ceiling and to his and Wyatt's room. Phoebe groaned again as she picked up the object that had been thrown at her, "We better go wash this before we put it back in your mouth." She said to Lorna in a baby voice, making her giggle. "Wyatt, could you go and get Pam to talk to Chris, please?"

"Okay, Aunt Phoebe." The boy nodded, ready to be enveloped in a swathe of orbs before she stopped him.

"Wyatt, I said no magic. Go up the stairs," Phoebe ordered, making her nephew hang his head in shame as he walked across the living room, "And knock the door, she's changing her clothes!"

Phoebe walked through into the kitchen, jiggling Lorna on her hip to keep her calm. This had been happening a lot recently. Without Piper and Leo here, Chris had begun acting out in the strangest of ways; one of those was his extreme jealousy of Lorna. He had been the baby of the house for four years, and now, he had suddenly become the middle child.

Wyatt had seemed to fit into his role as the eldest well. Instead of being in a constant war with his little brother, the little witchlighter seemed to be the voice of reason between the children. Phoebe was actually amazed how well her eldest nephew had adjusted, having to govern at such a young age, but she also wondered that it was developing such at attitude at an early age was the thing that made him turn evil. But then again, she still found it hard to believe that the tantrum throwing, relative insulting five year old was going to become the docile, quiet and neurotic nephew that had come from the future to save his big brother.

Times weren't the only things that changed, people changed with them.

* * *

Pamela let out a sigh of relief when her hair fell from its ponytail and back into its usual position of flowing past her shoulders and down her back. This was more like what she usually wore. A deep blue halter that was slightly see-through around her abdomen, and black jeans that were ripped in the knees and in the calves.

There was a knock on her door, "Come in," She replied, turning from her mirror to see Wyatt's face peeping around the door with his scrunched shut.

"Are you naked?" He shouted, keeping his eyes closed as tight as he could.

Pamela smirked and raised an eyebrow, "No, I'm not." The little boy opened his eyes and grinned sheepishly, "What do you need?"

"Aunt Phoebe wants to talk to Chris because he stole Lorna's binkie and then threw it at her and then orbed to his room and then-,"

"Okay, I get it." She put her hand up as a way of telling Wyatt he could stop, "I'll talk to him in a minute, why don't you go and help Aunt Phoebe with Lorna until I come down?"

The six year old nodded, before disappearing back into the hall and shutting the door behind him. Pamela turned back to the mirror, staring at the silver pair of wings that hung down her chest. The item just didn't seem to fit with the heart shaped locket that accompanied it around her neck. She was torn about parting with it, as she felt so connected to it, and since Prudence had managed to take her over without wearing the necklace, there no real danger in wearing it.

Quickly deciding on something, she unclipped the necklace, taking the pendant off the chain and putting it on her bed. She walked across to her vanity, where she opened a small wooden box which contained an assortment of jewelry. The witch frowned as she rummaged around, before grinning triumphantly when she found heavy looking bracelet, a different shaped charm on each link. Finding a space between a small silver 'P' shaped charm, and one that showed two hands holding one another, Pamela quickly summoned the chaos wing to her hand and maneuvered it onto the bracelet, smiling at her own handiwork before swinging it around her wrist and walking out of the door.

As she made her way to Wyatt and Chris's room, the teen frowned as she heard voices coming from the room. If she wasn't mistaken, they were the voices of her younger cousin and her father. Pamela was about to enter the boys room, when curiosity got the better of her and she hung back in the hallway, listening intently.

"… wasn't a very nice thing to do, was it?" Andy said, Pamela hearing the end of his sentence. She assumed Chris had given a non-verbal response as her father continued, "Chris, lemme ask you something. How do you feel about your Mom not being here?"

There was a pause of hesitation, "Sad. Mom makes the baddies under the bed go away, now they scare me at nighttime. I miss her…" The youngest Halliwell in the house said, so quietly that Pamela had to take a cautious step forward to hear.

"Well, your Mom's gonna come back, she'll make the baddies go away. But Lorna…" She heard Andy sigh, "Lorna's Mom isn't coming back to see her, and that's making her very sad."

Pamela ventured closer to see what into the room. Chris was sitting on his bed, holding to a teddy bear and covering his mouth while Andy knelt down in front of him, "But she's just a baby!" Chris argued with a whiny tone.

Andy smiled weakly, "She may not understand it up here…" He tapped his head with his index finger, "But she feels it in here." The former detective put his hand over his heart, "Can you imagine you Mom not coming back to you? She is though, I can guarantee it, but Emma's not going to be here for Lorna. You need to be there for her, she's going to need a big brother to love her and look out for her. Just like Wyatt does with you."

"And like Pam with me and Wyatt and Lorna and Connor and Melinda and Emma?" The boy questioned, a glint in his eyes as he brought the bear away from his face.

Andy grinned, "Exactly like Pam with all you guys. You think you can do that?"

Chris nodded vigorously and returned his genetic uncle's grin, "Yeah, I'm gonna be strong like Pam!" The five year old outstretched his arms, "Thanks Uncle Andy!"

Andy smiled warmly and hugged his nephew, "Your welcome, big guy…" He ruffled Chris shaggy brown locks, "Although I think you should just call me Andy. Pam might not like it if you call me the other thing,"

The child frowned, "But you're her Dad. That means you're my uncle. Why can't I call you my uncle?"

The mortal sighed in response, putting his hands in his back pockets, "It's all very-,"

"Fine." Pamela finally spoke, leaning against the doorframe with her arms folded, "I mean, he is my Dad that makes him your Uncle,"She kept eye contact with her father before turning to Chris, "Why don't you go say sorry to Aunt Phoebe and Lorna? If you're good for the rest of the afternoon, I'll take you guys out for dinner." She turned to Andy with a smirk, "Uncle Andy's buying."

"Okay!" The five year old replied, almost bouncing off the bed and heading for the door, after stopping in front of his big cousin, "I'm gonna look out for everyone, Pam! Don't worry!"

She smirked, "Now, when have you ever known me to worry about anything? Go on, go tell your big brother about my deal, but don't tell Aunt Phoebe or she'll get at me about healthy eating again!" Pamela shouted back, cringing at the memory. "What?" She asked, noticing her father giving her a look.

"Nothing. It's just… you're nothing like Prue described." Andy sighed, remembering his conversations with his deceased true love when he orbed up to the afterlife now and again as a whitelighter.

"Really? How did she describe me?"

"Extremely strong headed, quick to judge, a venomous tongue-,"

Pamela raised an eyebrow, "So basically all of _her_ bad qualities in a nutshell? Did she just forget you made up half my DNA or was she, yet again, making the situation all about her? And she wonders why we don't get along…"

"She didn't mean it like that. Which brings me to why, after such a stellar review from your mother, am I getting treated so nicely? Bar the fact that you blew me up before you even said a word to me."

The witch looked down at her feet, clenching her mouth shut as if she was embarrassed of the answer, "I guess… because you didn't know about me, so you're not really responsible for anything. You weren't part of the decision that got me landed on the steps of Social Services. So… where I'm concerned, you have a clean slate. And you're here now, righting a wrong which isn't even yours to correct. That's good enough for me."

The two them stood in silence, before the high pitched ding of the doorbell sounded. Pamela turned around and took a deep breath, preparing herself for what was to come. She walked out into the hallway, only for the sound of something smashing to reach her. The witch's heart sunk as she realized what that sound usually entailed in this house.

"PAM!"

* * *

"Wyatt!" Phoebe shouted to her nephew, who instantly raised his neon blue force field around his brother and foster sister. The seven year old grabbed the sides of the bassinet Lorna was in and pushed it away from the demons, who were now advancing on his aunt, who had taken up her stance in the middle of the solarium and was ready to fight. The middle Charmed One cringed at the sight of the five demons. Each of them were Leech Demons, and their appearance always made her stomach churn as the muscles of their face and rest of their body were completely on show, as if their skin had been removed.

Phoebe hesitated before swinging a punch at the closest one to her, cringing as she realized what her fist had connected with, before throwing herself into the air for a levitating spin kick. Her heels connected with the demon's face, who growled in pain as a crunching noise tore through the air.

"Oh crap… These are my favourite Manolos!" Phoebe cried, looking at the heel that was lying on the floor after being snapped off, "I shouldn't attempt martial arts in heels…" She groaned to herself, before realizing the demons had their attention on whoever was coming down the stairs.

An arrow came whizzing into the conservatory, striking a Leech Demon in the shoulder and causing a roar of fury and pain. The next one was suddenly sent through the fragile window from an unseen telekinetic force, before wisps of blue light consumed another, causing a fiery explosion of red sparks as the demon was vanquished.

"Where did he get that?" Phoebe screeched, pointing at the crossbow that was laid in Andy's hands as he and Pamela arrived from the staircase. The mortal reloaded his weapon quickly with an arrow from his pocket, before shooting his previous victim in between the eyes and making him drop to the floor dead, oozing a blue liquid from his forehead.

"Demon leftovers." Pamela replied, "Can we get back to this please?" She gestured wildly to the three demons still alive in the room, and the other that was recovering from being thrown out of the window.

"Oh… right!" Phoebe blinked, before a Leech Demon struck her across the face, sending her flying into the living room and throwing her against the wall underneath the staircase, "Ow…" She groaned weakly, trying to pick herself up from the floor.

A neon blue energy ball appeared in one of the evil being's hands. He bounced it in his palm for a few seconds before hurling it in Andy's direction. The ex cop, knowing from his experience of death that he wouldn't survive the attack, threw the crossbow out in front of him, making it meet the energy ball in between and destroying both.

"Too close…" Andy breathed to himself, before he saw a flicker out of the corner of his eye and ducked just in time to avoid a passing energy ball, which went sailing into the living room, blowing up the sofa and sending any remnants of it up in flames.

Pamela's head swung around to the door, where the bell had gone once again. She could see the two shadows of the social workers behind the misted glass. The witch turned around, grabbing a demon's wrist before he could hit her across the room, her body glowed a ghostly blue before releasing a powerful astral pulse that rippled through the conservatory, sending her father to the floor and vanquishing the demons in a scorching plume of fire, while shattering all the windows with a piercing crash.

Unfortunately, the astral pulse didn't stop there. It ripped through the entire ground floor. Sending the large oak dining room table crashing into the mantelpiece as it toppled against the wall, while every other piece of furniture was thrown into the air, landing a about foot from where it once stood in an obscure position. There was a loud series of clangs and smashes at the windows shattered along with every ornament, and all the pots and pans in the kitchen hit the floor.

"Oh my God!" Someone shrieked. Pamela spun around as she regained consciousness from using her power, only to see two paled faced social workers standing in the foyer, looking as if they were going to pass out. The teen looked around to see the extent of her damage; Andy was helping Phoebe nurse a bleeding head, while the whole ground floor looked as if a bomb had hit it. Windows were smashed, furniture was destroyed, and there were small fires where misdirected energy balls had landed.

"I'll call the police." The male social worker said to his female partner, taking his cell phone from the inside of his jacket and hastily dialing, leaving Pamela to gawk at her mess.

* * *

Pamela remained silent as she was cuffed by an officer, she really didn't know what to do anymore. Her aunt was being stitched up and handcuffed at the same time. If it had been in a better situation, she probably would have come up with a joke to that, but not right now. She something smashing in the front room and smirked, that was the forth time she had heard it, the kids must have been putting up the fight with the social workers.

"You really are the scourge of the humanity, to raise three children in this environment." Payne sneered, glaring fiercely at Pamela, who retaliated by laughing.

"Is that really the best 'I've taken you down' look you've got? I'm waiting for you to slap me hard across the cheek for being a disgusting criminal. You need to watch more cop movies, my friend." She said in a patronizing voice.

"Pam… That's not help-Ow!" Phoebe snapped as the paramedic finished stitching up her head and she was forced to stand up from the stairs, where an officer led her towards the door.

Pamela sighed and looked across to her father, who was being questioned by the remaining officers. Why hadn't they thought of getting him out of the house before Social Services came? _"Another mistake…" _Pamela thought to herself, hoping that they wouldn't figure out Andy was supposed to be dead.

"That's us got the kids in the van…" The female social worker came in. She was slightly and her glasses were askew, "We'll take them to the hospital. Who knows what they could have picked up from living here." She said with a hint of disdain.

"We'll take these guys to join the other two at the precinct." Payne replied, before nodding towards Andy, "He's coming for questioning. Take her away with her aunt." He spat to the officer that had detained Pamela. The cop obeyed, pushing the teen slightly and making her walk towards the door.

As she walked down the steps, she gave a determined look to Wyatt, who was currently thrashing and kicking as he was put into the car. The sever year old caught his older cousin's glance and instantly stopped thrashing, knowing that Pamela would save them, she always did. Chris, who had put up an equally impressive fight against the social workers, began to calm after seeing his older brother stop suddenly.

Pamela stared at the car as it drove away, Wyatt and Chris looked out the back window as Lorna's screams echoed out of the open window of the car. It hit all of a sudden. What if the kids were put in a home? Demons would attack, that would put innocents in danger, not to mention children. She had to do something.

Even when she looked back on this moment later, Pamela never understood why she did this. Without any warning, she spiraled around, raising her leg and hitting the cop in the face with a powerful roundhouse kick, before shoving her foot into his stomach and throwing him to the ground.

"Phoebe!" Pamela yelled, glaring at her aunt's handcuffs and causing them to break apart from the telekinetic force she applied to the metal. The middle Charmed One didn't hesitate, as soon as her hands were free, she delivered a solid punch to the officer's temple then suddenly ducked down, sweeping his legs out from underneath him and making him fall to the ground.

"I can't believe we're doing this!" Phoebe exclaimed, quickly frisking the downed officer next to Pamela for the key that would unlock her handcuffs, "Got it." She announced, pulling out a small key from his shirt pocket.

"We need to get keys to Piper's car." The teen demanded, letting out a sigh and rubbing her wrists as they were freed from their shackles.

"Freeze!" Payne bellowed as he ran down the steps of the Manor, pulling his gun out of its holster and preparing to fire at the two Halliwells as two other officers ran towards him for backup, all of them aiming their weapons.

Pamela turned to them with a stern look, her head suddenly falling to her chest before her body began to glow a ghostly blue. Astral energy threw itself from her body, a large cloud of blue light flying towards the police. The attack blasted the three law enforcers back, Payne was thrown against the front steps, while the other two were thrown into the bushes at either side of the front door.

"Did you really have to use such a strong astral pulse?" Phoebe's eyes widened as they darted from one unconscious officer to the next, unable to believe that they were the reason five people were now knocked out.

Pamela rolled her eyes, "Hey, it could have been worse, I could have sent off another like I did in the house. Besides, I'm still working out the kinks. And it's activated by fear! What do you expect from me when I've got three guns in my face? C'mon, car keys." She repeated, before walking up the steps and back into the Manor, with a slightly dazed aunt in tow.

* * *

"Shh… baby," The social worker whispered to a screeching Lorna in her arms as she tried to calm her down. The baby redhead had been crying her eyes out ever since the police had come to the Manor, oddly enough; she had stayed completely silent during the demon attack.

"Let me see my sister!" Chris spat, holding his arms out along with a glare that made look so like his future self is was frightening. The woman sighed, convincing herself that if she couldn't calm the child down, maybe someone who was closer to her could. The brown haired boy balanced Lorna on his lap, before pulling her close his chest, "It's okay Lorna, I'm gonna look after you, just like Uncle Andy told me."

"Uncle?" The woman frowned, not remembering any male relation in the file apart from the father and Brennan Mulwray. She marveled at how the infant calmed down in Chris's care. Perhaps they were doing the wrong thing? The social worker then made a promise to herself that she would see to it that the three children were not separated then they were sent to their new homes.

Her train of thought was broken by the car coming to a screeching halt. Chris's hold on his foster sister tightened, keeping her safe, while Wyatt laid a hand on his little brother's shoulder, smiling with a devilish grin when he recognized the car that had skidded out in front.

"Isn't that the three people Payne just arrested?" The driver exclaimed, peering out the windshield.

Sure enough, Andy was sitting at the wheel of Piper's Jeep, glaring at the driver of the other car, while Pamela and Phoebe got out the back. Both stormed towards the car with furious expressions etched on their faces. Pamela put her hand in her pocket, scaring the three social workers even more by making them wonder what she was going to pull out.

"What are you waiting for? Drive around it!" The panicky man shouted at his driving partner.

"Wyatt! Now!" Pamela bellowed, locking eyes with her oldest little cousin and nodded her head vigorously.

The blonde nodded back, before disappearing from the car with Chris and Lorna in a swirl of blue and white lights and leaving only air for their seatbelts to float in for a second before dropping to the chair. The three of them reappeared in a swathe of orbs next to their cousin and aunt.

Pamela took a deep breath, before blowing out a large cloud of freezing mist. It engulfed the car in a matter of seconds, trapping it in a thick layer of sparkling ice that the teen only smirked at. Her triumph was interrupted by Phoebe smacking her on the arm and gaping.

"Pam, those were innocents! We can't just trap them like that!" She exclaimed.

"Hmm… Well, I did, so we can." She replied in a 'matter of fact' tone, "Besides, even in San Francisco, someone is bound to notice a car-cicle in the middle of the road. They'll be fine." The teen began to guide the three children towards the car while Phoebe took in everything her niece had just said.

The middle Charmed One narrowed her eyes and turned around, "Alright then, missy, what's you next plan to get our asses thrown in jail?" She snapped, putting her hands on her hips and raising an eyebrow.

"Well, we're not going to get our asses thrown in jail. We're going to walk our asses into jail." Pamela said with a smirk as she piled Wyatt and Chris into the back seat of the car and took Lorna. "Come on, we're busting Piper and Leo out," She replied with an almost giddy tone, before climbing in the back and shutting the door.

Phoebe sighed and raked a hand through her dark brown hair, before limping with her broken heel around the car and going into the passenger seat. Andy remained silent as he sped off, thinking deeply about what it would be like to be back in the place where he had most of is adult life as a mortal.

* * *

Katrina fought as the tornado of white lights engulfed her. She bared her teeth, grasping the side of her cauldron so hard that her knuckles turned white. She hated being summoned, but even more so, she hated when she had to resist. It left her with a feeling of being in two places at once.

"Fine… Have it your way…" She grumbled, taking her hands off the large pewter pot and letting herself be swallowed by the lights.

The Seer put off opening her eyes, knowing what she would be faced with as if she did. As Katrina felt her presence solidify again, she bowed her head, "I apologize, your-," She cut herself off when all she saw was a large grey demon with a tooth necklace and large, destructive looking claw like nails.

"Greetings…" The demon said hoarsely staring at his visitor.

Katrina looked around the white hall that seemed to stretch for miles with a sneer of disdain. She had always hated this place, it was always too bright for her liking, as the walls seemed to blind her with white light. She adored the starry sky though, smiling as she looked up fondly, before looking at the demon with a thunderous impression.

"What gives you the right to summon me?" She growled, seething as she folded her arms across her chest.

The demon didn't even blink, "I would be careful of how you speak to me. They have given me the power to destroy you if I'm not pleased."

At this, she let out an echoing laugh, "Oh please, my powers may not be heightened on this plane, but I can tell you're lying. They and only they can kill me; they can't pass that power onto you, even if they wanted to…" Katrina looked the demon up and down with an amused smirk.

"Perhaps not," The creature said, taking a step forward, "But I report to them and if they are unpleased with what I report, then it shall be you who pays the price, not me."

"You see, that's where demons are smarter, they always shoot the messenger, no matter how dull skinned, slow witted and badly manicured they are. Although, their merciful way did save my ass when I had your job." She sniped.

"Although I would love to trade jibes with you, I can't. They want to know why you didn't fix the Charmed Ones' current situation. You are charged to protect the sisters, yet this could very well destroy them." The demon narrowed his eyes.

Katrina took a step forward, "I saw no threat in the laws of mortals. Besides, if they had foresaw a problem, they should have contacted me before now, not when it's all taking place as we speak."

"They assumed you would have been able to foresee it, you are, after all, one of the most revered prerogatives to ever exist on the higher plane. And with your abilities heightened on Earth, you should have seen it months before it happened." The demon retaliated, also taking a step forward.

She sighed, "For some odd reason, while my other powers are heightened, foresight is extremely hard to come by. I had to cast ritual after ritual for it to even occur randomly. For some reason, the power to see into the future is muffled on earth."

"Hmm… I shall report this interesting flux in your powers. Nonetheless, you are still to right the wrong, on top of a new mission."

Katrina narrowed her eyes, "You've got to be kidding me! Since they cast down to that… scourge, I have had to ally myself with Satanos, orchestrate Emma DeLauro's death, and being her child into the world. What else do they need before the Charmed Ones are ready to ascend?"

"You need to set in motion the destruction of the Book of Shadows." The demon replied simply, folding his arms across his broad chest.

Katrina's eyes widened, "Did all that muscle finally crush your brain? If the book is destroyed, the sister's powers are destroyed. Besides, that thing's untouchable, there's no way I can pull it off."

"If the Charmed Ones are to ascend, they must be purged of their powers completely, destroyed the book does that. You could destroy it. You are good after all; it wouldn't sense you as a threat."

"True, but then I break my charge of having an indirect influence over the events." Katrina argued back.

The demon raised an eyebrow, "Then I suggest you manipulate Satanos to be your puppet, he is powerful in his own realm, I'm sure you could find a way. After all, from hearing you listing all your feats, this will probably be no problem to the likes of you."

"But, wait, I-," The redhead was cut off by the white lights that now swirled around body, quickly transporting her back to her underworld. She looked around her cave, frowning, "DAMMIT!" She bellowed, grabbing the side of her cauldron and throwing it across the room effortlessly and into wall, causing a crack in the cave and for the pewter to shatter on contact.

* * *

Piper sighed as she tried to make the course blanket cover her entire body. The witch had been passing the hours by mainly sleeping for the past week, but ever since they had given her a cellmate, Piper was cautious to sleep. The man suddenly leapt down from the top bunk. He had to be in his early fifties, his teeth were yellowed and for some reason, he was wearing fingerless gloves.

"C'mon baby! Just one little kiss!" He insisted, puckering his lips and twitching his fingers in a way that made the eldest Charmed want to vomit.

"Kiss this." She snapped, throwing out her hands and setting her freezing power on the pervert, stalling him in suspended motion and pulling the blanket up over her body, which was curled up into the fetal position and she searched for warmth in the cold cell.

"You okay sweetie?" Leo's voice came from the other side of the wall, knowing that the man in his wife's cell had been harassing her.

Piper rolled her eyes, "Yeah…" She answered, curling up even more and completely covering herself with the blanket. She remained that way for a few minutes, before something made her throw the blanket off and scan the room. Piper frowned, not seeing anything except from the frozen man and was ready to go back to the bed, before someone hissed her name.

"Piper!" They whispered.

The eldest Halliwell looked around again, seeing nothing, until there was a soft glow out in the corridor. She stood up, putting her hands on the bars and peering out through the metal with a confused expression on her face. She saw Leo peering out of the bars of his cell, doing the same thing.

"Was that you?" She asked, frowning.

"No…" Leo narrowed his eyes, "It sounded like-,"

"Me!" The voice said again. There was a soft glow in the corridor as the heads of Pamela and Phoebe appeared out of nowhere. Slowly, the rest of their bodies began to piece together and the two of them stood grinning, "Me!" Phoebe repeated, "Pretty cool spell, huh?"

"And for our next trick…" Pamela murmured, pulling a piece of paper from her back pocket and holding it out in front of her aunt, before glancing up at Piper and Leo, "You might want to stand stack from the bars. We don't want this affecting you guys."

With an eyebrow raised, the couple stepped away from the bars to allow the two witches to work their craft.

"Time shall ravish, what used to stand, make the bars crumble, as if they were sand…" Phoebe and Pamela chanted with an eerie tone as their eyes wondered up towards the bar to see their spell take effect.

A low groaning sound broke through the silence as the bars suddenly began to be become a tangy red colour as rust consumed the metal. There was a screeching as the metal bars began to collapse, letting out of a clang as they all fell to the floor and disintegrated into a grainy dust.

"Okay, that wasn't as silent as I would have liked!" Pamela cringed at the orange dust that was now on the floor.

"We don't have time, let's just get to Magic School and sort this mess out." Phoebe urged, holding out her hand and helping Piper out of her cell while Leo joined the three of them, taking his wife's hand and putting the other on Pamela's shoulder. He was out to orb out when two wardens came around the corner with their guns raised.

"Phoebe…" Pamela whispered, nodding at her aunt to signal something they had planned earlier.

The middle Charmed One turned the two intruders with a stern look, she opened up her empathic ability as far as it would go, immediately feeling the fear of the unknown that the wardens felt as they faced intruders. Concentrating, she narrowed her eyes and used another branch of her power to escalate their fear to an unbearable level. The wardens' hair turned shock white; they gasped for air before slumping down the wall, completely motionless. Dead.

"Phoebe… I've have never seen you do that." Piper breathed, staring at her sister with shock and fear, "You killed them." She finally said, wide eyed and jaw dropped.

"What _haven't_ I done today?" Phoebe replied darkly, before motioning for Leo to orb them out.

* * *

"Here." Phoebe announced as she threw clothes at Piper, "Although felon orange may be your colour, it's hurting my eyes." She threw a pair of jeans at Leo and a t-shirt, "Sorry if you don't like them. I didn't much time to prepare for our niece's insanity." The witch said casually, strolling back to her lounger and clasping her hands, crossing her legs over one another and staring at the ground.

"And we didn't have time to prepare for yours, apparently." Piper spat back, taking a quick look at the clothes in her hands before glaring at her sister, "You killed them, Phoebe. Innocents, I might add."

The middle Charmed One sighed and cocked her head, "I saved us in the process, and I didn't mean to kill him, I've never used my power like that before, it shouldn't have been that strong."

"Well it was and it was a lethal weapon. How could you? I'm not even seeing any remorse in what you did right now." Piper retorted, rising to her feet to glower over her younger sibling, who retaliated with a smoldering glare.

"Well, maybe because I don't time to reflect and wallow in self pity. Or have you not noticed that I have been the last sister standing for some time now?" She spat back, also standing up to face off against her sister. "You have no idea what I have gone through ever since this all kicked off, from what I can see all you've done is sleep in a jail cell."

Leo decided to intervene, "Enough!" He said in a slightly raised voice, "We can't fight amongst ourselves right now; we've still got to sort this mess out."

"And how are we supposed to that? Leo, let's face it, it's over! We are completely screwed! We might as well just orb down to the underworld and ask the Nameless One to just shove a fireball in our chests and end it."

"How can you think like that?" Piper exclaimed.

"You've only seen a small part of what's happened today. Trust me, we're finished." Phoebe growled, as Pamela walked into the hall with Brennan and Connor at her heels.

"I wasn't able to summon Paige, but I was able to summon these two." She pointed to her uncle and cousin. Brennan looked as if he had been summoned from his work, as he was still wearing blue scrubs and a white coat over it, while Connor frowned around the room, knowing something was wrong. "I should probably take him to the nursery…" Pamela whispered, hoisting her little cousin out of his father's arms and walking back down the corridor.

"Hey, honey, what's going on? I had the police at the hospital asking me when I had last seen you." Brennan asked as he made his way towards Phoebe, who immediately lunged at him, wrapping her arms around his neck and hugging him. She felt as if she hadn't seen her husband in months.

She moved closer to his body, burying her face in his neck, "Um… I think we should just talk later." Phoebe pulled away, but kept one arm around Brennan's back, almost holding onto him for support, "We're all exhausted."

"Amen to that!" Pamela blurted out as she came back into the hall holding the Book of Shadows and smiling triumphantly, "I thought I would summon this out of the house so they don't get completely onto us." She smiled, "Dad's with the kids. He's keeping them calm."

"Good." Piper replied, "We're staying here tonight." She added.

Pamela rolled her eyes in response, "I sorta figured."

* * *

Piper stared out through a crack in the curtain, she watched as a tree in the courtyard sway in the gentle night breeze as moonlight illuminated her face. For some reason, she just couldn't sleep, the bed was the comfiest thing she had lay in all week, yet there was something that kept her alert. The witch smiled when Leo's snoring reached her ears. It didn't surprise her that her husband had fallen asleep right away. So what was her problem?

Pushing the covers back gently, she swung her legs over the side of bed and put her hands together to cover her mouth as she yawn. She ran a hand through her hair and let out a small sigh, pondering just what was going to happen to her, to her family, to everyone she cared about. Piper looked back over her shoulder, Leo was lying on his stomach with his head turned away from her, snoring like there was no tomorrow. Even with the elder's snoring, Piper always managed to get to sleep, but not tonight.

"Why can't it all end…?" She whispered to herself, her eyes beginning to shine slightly as tears sprouted, "Just stop… Please… what did we do deserve this…?" She pleaded in a hushed tone, a tear tricking down her face as she bowed her head, "Someone… please… just fix it…" Piper looked up, swallowing and repressing the sob that was threatening to be released, "I can't live like this… My kids… can't live like this…" She sniffed, "Just make it all go away…"

Piper lied back down, tears streaming from her face silently as she cried herself to sleep. She hadn't even known who she was pleading to, the one who would make everything stop and go back to normal. But unbeknownst to the eldest Halliwell, her prayer for a clean slate had been answered…

By the most unlikely of sources.

* * *

"Piper, wake up! Where the hell is my laptop?"

"Hmm… What?" Piper asked groggily, keeping her eyes shut. And turning over in the bed, wanting just five more minutes.

There was a sigh, "Don't think rolling over's gonna shut me up, you tidied my room and moved my laptop! I need it for school!"

Piper sighed, opening her eyes and sitting up in her bed, "It was dusty, I left it on the dining room table, and you've probably passed it about a hundred times this morning!" She replied with a frown, grabbing a pillow and putting on her headboard. The witch looked around her room deciding it needed cleaned when she had free time today.

"Found it!" Andy announced, holding a slim computer in his hands and grinning as he walked into Piper's room to find his daughter harassing her aunt.

"Thanks!" She took it from his hands and smiled before turning back to Piper who was still looking around her room, "If you're looking for Lorna, Leo already fed her and bathed her." Pamela offered. "Thanks again, Dad!" She shouted as she left the room, "Leo! Orb us out of here! I need to meet Jenna in the courtyard soon!"

"Give me I minute, Pam!" The elder snapped as he came back into the room with Lorna on his hip. He grinned and sat next to Piper on the side, "Hey, sleep well?" He asked, setting down the baby redhead and letting her crawl around the bed.

"Yeah, when you going to be home tonight?"

"Same time as Pam. Although it's a Friday so probably earlier knowing how her weekends get!" He grinned, "I'll meet you at P3 tonight though,"

"Okay, I'll see you later." She smiled. Leo leaned in and gave his wife a peck on the cheek before their moment was interrupted by Pamela's shouting.

"Leo! Let's go already!" She shouted. With a sigh, Leo stood up and walked out of the room, following the shrieks of his niece as he went.

Andy sighed, "I would drive her if I could, but…" He bowed his head, silently chalking that up that up to another thing he wouldn't be able to do as her father without powers. It was really the only aspect of being a whitelighter that was appealing at the moment.

"Um… Andy, if you want to be helpful you could take Emma's old car and go for groceries. It's just that I'm swamped with inventory and a sound check today and it would really help out." Piper grinned.

"Sure, it's not like I'm doing anything else…" The man sighed, walking out of the room, "Where are Emma's keys?"

"They should be hanging up in the kitchen!" Piper shouted back.

The witch looked around her bedroom, nothing seemed out of place, but she had a strange feeling that something was amiss. Piper shook off the feeling with a sigh, cocking her eyebrow at Lorna who had crawled over to her, "Why don't we see what's for breakfast, eh?" She asked the redhead in a baby voice, who giggled as Piper scooped her up, walking out of the room with a smile on her face and with no idea that reality had been altered.

* * *

**NEXT TIME:** Paige and Aidan declare their love for one another, but decide to spend one last night together as they see no way for them to be a couple. Both or extremely torn what it's thought they've seen each other for the last time. But when both see sense, will love conquer all?

Chapter 35 **"The King And Her"** will be up soon!

And now, the "Their Cross To Bear" preview!

* * *

Shalimar knelt down and inhaled the heavenly aroma coming from the patch of light purple tulips in front of her. She brushed the rough wooden floor with her slender fingers, finding it amazing that, even in a slum like his, one of the mutants at the orphanage had still managed to make such beautiful flowers grow here, but that was to be expected of an elemental botanical. Taking the pitcher of water that she brought, the feral gently poured the cool liquid onto the soil, smiling when the earth seemed to absorb it right away. Shalimar hoped that it was the flowers thirst that made the water disappear so quickly, and not the searing heat from the sun evaporating it instantly.

She stood up, putting one hand on her hip and the other above her eyes to look through the gaping hole in the church roof. Shalimar found it hard to believe that the temperature could drop so violently at night, when she saw children suffering of heat stroke in the day. The holy building was really just a wreck now. The roof had completely deteriorated, only leaving rafters and large oak beams to show where the ceiling was once been. The interior was in a similar state, pews now shattered with moss devouring them while weeds had begun to grow through the wooden floor, cracking it and destroying the floorboards, but still Shalimar found peace in this ruin.

Her ears twitched at the sound of running feet, before she knew it, half a dozen children had snaked in through the many holes in the walls, some even just run in through the side where there was no wall at all, running to the feral with grins on their faces. All of the kids had dark skin, after living under the intense sunlight for so long and having to work outside most of the time just to live, but all that changed once they were took in by the orphanage.

It made Shalimar sick to think that so many people just abandoned their children just because they had abilities, especially when it had been their trust in Genomex that had poisoned their child's life. After all, Shalimar knew too well about the limited life span of her kind, the powers were not the only burden. They beamed up at her, making the feral's heart melt, this had been one of the reasons she had decided to set down roots here, so she could help out those in need and still be in her element.

"Shallie!" A small girl, no older than five with pigtails cooed, hugging Shalimar's leg, "We're really hot! Can you take us down to the river for a swim?" She asked, giving the blonde her best puppy dog eyes.

She grinned in response, "Sure, as long as Izzy says it's okay, then we'll go and have a cool down. Go check with her then get your swimming gear, I'll be back in a minute, okay?"

Izzy was the one who had started the mutant orphanage in the first place. They had met when Shalimar had helped one of the boys that had got lost in the woods, she had kept him safe and guided him back to his home, when Izzy had mistaken the feral for an intruder and had attacked. She was a molecular regenerative, which meant she could heal herself and others, but she could take life just as fast as she gave it, drawing on someone's life force killing them. Luckily, Shalimar had managed to dodge her 'hands of death' and they sorted out the misunderstanding.

"Mind if I come for a swim too?" A voice said.

Shalimar had been so distracted with the children that she hadn't heard the footsteps of the approaching stranger. She turned around, seeing that he was entering to the side of the church with no wall. Her eyes were immediately drawn to the glimmer on his forearm; she narrowed her eyes, trying to get a better look of whatever it was. Shalimar's immediate thought was that it was some sort of weapon, her suspicions were confirmed when the gleam seemed to be a blade.

"Um… You guys, why don't you go back and tell Izzy we've got company." The blonde mutant suggested, knowing that Izzy would translate 'company' into 'trouble' and hopefully get the children to safety. Five of them nodded their heads and began to run out the church, ducking and weaving into the small crevices that allowed them an exit, but one boy, who was older than the rest, stood his ground.

"Shal, I can help." He argued, his eyes flashing a deep dark brown colour, signifying his feral canine abilities. Even though he was years younger, the feline in Shalimar was scared every time he flashed his eyes.

"Alexander." She said firmly, "Go back and tell Izzy, that's the best thing you can do for me right now. I'll need you to protect the others if something goes wrong, okay?" Shalimar hoped that being entrusted with the responsibility of protection would be enough for the child to flee. Thankfully, she got her wish, as Alexander bolted for the large oak doors that were hanging off their hinges.

"They didn't leave on my account, did they?" The stranger asked with a far too creepy grin for the feral's liking. She eyes darted up and down his body, seeing that he was dressed fairly normally, except that his t-shirt, jeans, and leather jacket were all black. Black? Wearing that colour in this sun was asking to pass out, yet there didn't seem to be a bead of sweat on the man, nor could Shalimar smell perspiration on him in the slightest.

"Who are you and what you do want?" She snapped, taking a territorial stance and cursing the sarong she wore, albeit it was tied tightly around her waist and flowed down the back of legs, but it would still make fighting difficult if it came to that.

The man laughed and shook his bald head, "You must be the feisty one that the people in the village at the bottom of the hill told me about. I mean, around these parts, you're dressed pretty uniquely to be a local." He chuckled.

Shalimar frowned and look down at her clothing, it consisting of a white bikini top and denim hot pants. Now that she thought, she probably did stick out like a sore thumb when she went down to the village for supplies, as most of the women were usually dressed very frumpy clothes and girls her age were scarce in the town.

"The town talks about us?" Shalimar narrowed her eyes at the man, still trying to figure out of he was an enemy.

"I believe they called you 'one of the women who live with the freaks'," He relayed, making Shalimar clench her fists in anger. If this guy didn't stop dodging her questions, she would hit him, friend or enemy. "But no matter how much you've moved around, I've found you, feral," He growled, his face twisting into one of malicious pleasure.

Without any warning, he ran at Shalimar with superhuman speed, slashing the air wildly with the weapon attached to his left arm. The blonde, even with her enhanced reflexes, barely managed to bend backwards to avoid the blade. Shalimar bent all the way back so she was standing on hands and feet, before throwing her legs at the man's chest, kicking him with ferocious power and throwing him into the air. Shalimar did a back flip from her position to get back to her feet. She expected to see the attacker, lying stunned on the cracked wooden floor, but was caught off guard when he appeared right in front of her.

"Nice move. No wonder you've earned the title of Genomex's most powerful feral." He grinned at her, obviously taking great pleasure in her astonishment that he had managed to recover so quickly from her attack.

Releasing a primal growl from her throat, Shalimar glared at him with threatening yellow eyes before releasing a slew of punches at his upper body. Stomach, chest, nose, neck, she continued her onslaught, her victim taking every punch as it came, moving in the direction it sent him in. She bared her teeth, before throwing herself up into the air and spinning her left leg up into his face. Her heel connected with his jaw, a bone chilling crack tore through the air, and when Shalimar landed back on her feet, the bald man's head was askew, with one large bone jutting out in his neck. She waited for him to topple, expecting the fight to be over, until he grinned at her, his head moving back into place along with the bone.

"That's not possible…!" The feral breathed, now looking into his grey toneless eyes with an expression of terror. Just what was she up against?

He shook a little and smirked at her, "Perfect. I've been looking for a girl with a little extra kick." He turned his neck, making it crack before beginning to walk towards her.

Not sure what else try, Shalimar ran towards a nearby wooden pillar, running at it with amazing speed before grabbing hold and spinning around it, throwing out her legs and attempting to hit the man square in the face. She wasn't even sure how he did it, but he somehow caught her calves and spun her around like an Olympian hammer thrower, making her collide with the pillar she had just used and sending her crashing right through it, landing to the floor with a cuts and scrapes all over her exposed flesh.

"Is this all you have to offer, Shalimar?" He taunted, picking her up by the throat and watching her squirm. "Perhaps the rest of Mutant X will be more of a challenge to me!" Her eyes widened at the thought of her former teammates in danger, all because she couldn't defeat an enemy.

He shook his head in disgust before hurling her towards the back wall like a weightless rag doll. She zipped past the flower bed of tulips, making the petals fly up into the air from the velocity she was traveling in, before crashing through the brittle wooden wall and landing in the sandy dirt outside.

Shalimar wasn't sure how long she lay there, seconds, minutes, maybe hours. Lilac petals were now floating in the air, coming out of the hole her attacker had created with her body. As she lay there, beaten, bruised, and bleeding, she followed one tulip petal as it passed her eyes, before following another, after the first had fled from her sight. The feral watched the sun travel across the sky, closing her eyes when it came into them directly. The last thing Shalimar saw, was the brightness of the sun, and a flurry of light purple petals passing by, before she blacked out.


	35. The King And Her

Okay guys, it seems there's little but of confusion as to how everything turned out okay in the last chapter. Well, it was Katrina, she used her powers and altered history, making the whole deal with the police and social services never happen. It'll be clearer in Chapter 39! I promise!

Onto the replies! (Altough I'm not sure if I should be doing them, but…)

Chyp – Thanks!

Princess Pinky – Holy Hell! That has to be the biggest review I've ever had! Erm, okay, here I go. Lol, I'm glad I made you laugh, Pam's always been a source of comic relief in my stories, and let's face it, she's been needed! Phoebe's dark side wi; be explored a little more in the sequel. Yeah, I try to give Wyatt a little more of a more childish side, as he is a child after all, and I feel they just neglect Chris in the show, poor little baby. Ha, the male/female thing is a little mix up on my part. And I hope I cleared up the confusion in the little bit at the top. Thanks for your great review!

Phoebe turner – Thanks!

Prince Halliwell – All your questions will be answered soon, but it was Katrina who unintentionally answered her prayer. I think I should probably edit that chapter and do a scene where it shows her fixing everything. Glad you liked it all.

ColePhoebe4eva – Thanks, and they did sorta get out of it. Although it wasn't them you fixed it all.

Lindsay – I'm always pleased to see a new reader! And yeah, heh, I'm working the grammar mistakes and stuff. And you never know, Emma could return…

**The King And Her**

Pamela raised the can of 'Red Bull' to her lips, swallowing the liquid and widening her eyes as she fought against the fatigue that threatened to consume her. She narrowed her eyes at the glowing laptop screen in front of her, resuming her furious typing and shaking her head slightly, "The words are _not_ swirling around the page, Pam. Get a grip." She hissed to herself, taking a quick glance around the dark kitchen before going back to typing.

A creak on the basement steps made her whip her head around to the side. The door opened and her father appeared, fully dressed in jeans and a leather jacket while squinting his eyes as they adjusted to the change in the light. Pamela immediately pushed the screen of her computer closed, turning to Andy and smiling weakly.

"Why are you up at two in the morning?" Andy frowned at his daughter as he made his way towards the refrigerator; his face illuminated at the light from the interior hit him. The man scanned its contents and groaned.

"Why are you up and fully dressed at two in the morning?" She retorted with a smile, pushing the laptop screen down even further casually as she questioned him. Not answering her, Andy sighed as he pulled out a milk carton, shaking it to indicate it was empty.

"Who put this back in the refrigerator after emptying it?" He said, raising his eyebrows at Pamela, who let out a laugh.

She picked up her can again and took another sip, "That's Wyatt's bad habit. He drained it an hour ago when he got up for something that would help him sleep. He was all for mixing up potions, but I put him off. And you still haven't answered my question."

"I asked mine first." He replied with a grin, taking a glass from the cupboard and going towards the sink, "What were you working on?" Andy asked, turning the tap and filling the glass with water before turning it off and leaning on the counter.

"Oh… Just looking around on the net." She answered with a smile.

Andy gave her a skeptical look, "Hmm… You know, it's been ten years since I've been a cop, but I can still spot a liar a mile away. C'mon, spill!"

"I'm telling the truth!" She said, struggling to keep her father's gaze at he bore into her head with eyes practically identical to her own. "Ugh… Alright… I was… writing…"

"Writing what?"

She sighed again and rolled her eyes, "An article for the school paper, you happy now?" She snapped, pulling the screen back up and looking at what she had written so far, shaking her head as if embarrassed of what she had just shared.

Andy however, just smiled, "You write for the school paper? Then how come I've never seen any of your articles in the issues I've seen?" He frowned, thinking of the times when the only thing he had to keep tabs on his daughter was seeing if she was on the school paper.

"Oh, you probably have, I just don't use my real name. I go by the name of Miss Mystery on that rag. I'm writing about the times that the people in my year group have had during our education, you know, its sort of a recap over the last four years. I can't believe I'm graduating soon…"

"Wait, why do you not use your real name? From what I've read, Miss Mystery is a damn good journalist." Andy commented, downing the rest of the water and putting the glass in the sink, folding his arms.

Pamela shifted uncomfortably, "I'm not good with attention. I'm gonna have to work on that if I want to be a good journalist." She said with determination, looking back at her screen and resuming her typing.

Andy smiled, this was the first time he had even heard of Pamela talking about her future career, "You want to be a journalist? That's great! Why? Do you want help cover up magical messes instead of trying to expose them?"

She shrugged, "That's part of it. But I can concentrate on it later. My career's not really important right now."

As Andy dropped the empty milk carton into the trash can, he noticed a letter already in there. He frowned, noticing the emblem of a flaming torch inside a square and picked it out of the bin, showing it to his daughter with his eyes narrowed.

"Isn't this from NYU?" Andy asked, making Pamela look up and peer up the envelope.

"Well, since it says New York University on it, I'm guessing it might be from there." She answered with a smirk, before going back to her writing.

"Pam, this is the college you've been wanting to go to. If I remember correctly, you couldn't sleep the night you sent off the application form because you were worried it might get lost in the mail. Why is it in the trash?" He gave it another glance, "And not even opened?"

The teen shrugged again, "I didn't see any point in opening it. I'm not going to college anyway so why should I care whether they accepted me or not?" She replied, without looking up from the computer. Andy gaped and took a seat at the table, pulling the laptop away slightly so he could talk to her without distractions. She sighed impatiently, "What?"

"Why do you think you're not going to college?" He asked.

She snorted, "Isn't it sort of obvious? I'm needed here. I can't just leave and go to New York. Piper's barely managing right now, she's relying on P3 to make some money, and although my salary isn't extremely big, it's a needed contribution. It's not as if Leo's job pays anything, although, somehow, the Elders manage to pay the other teachers. We were able to keep afloat before, but without Emma…" She sighed and closed her eyes, "Someone has to be practical."

"And that someone has to be you? I'll get a job; I'll… do something, just to make sure you get want you want out of your education." Andy assured her, shaking her arm slightly.

"Look, Dad, I appreciate the gesture, but…" Pamela pulled the laptop back to her, quickly saving her document and shutting down the system, "You can't get a job, because you're dead. I'm fine with it, really, and don't give me that 'trained to spot a lair' crap. Just trust me." She snapped the laptop shut and tucked it under her arm, standing up and walking towards the dining room, "Hey, you never told me why you were up."

Andy just stared into space, still trying to process his daughter's decision, "Huh…?" He frowned, blinking a little before grinning, "Oh! I was just gonna go for walk. That's what I do when I can't sleep." He replied.

"Hmm… Well, you've seen my trick to sleep. You might wanna try it. It's easier than going for a walk." She smiled, gesturing to the computer before turning on her heel, waving as she left, "Night, Dad."

"Oh… Good night." He called back, putting his hand on his chin and still thinking about what Pamela had said, he had to shake his head and laugh slightly at the irony of it all. Prue had sacrificed her dreams to take care of her family; Andy knew that she had barely made it through college with Phoebe acting up and Piper being bullied. He also remembered having a very similar conversation with Prue when she had come home, it must have been a couple months after she gave birth to Pamela.

Moving the laptop in front of him, Andy opened it up again, turning on the power and staring into the screen. He was surprised and saddened when he saw the NYU emblem stretched across Pamela's desktop. Determined, Andy began to look on the internet, for anything that would let his daughter not turn out like her mother.

* * *

Paige looked out of the tall window of her room, out towards the sprawling city and the ocean that lay beyond. The street lamps illuminated the roads in a blue glow as turquoise flames would ignite simultaneously in lanterns that hovered above the sidewalks, lighting up the city in a shower of blue dots from the view from the castle. The view was impaired this evening by the window being drenched in water from the storm outside. It had been the rain lashing against the window that had awakened Paige in the first place

Melinda and Emma sat on her lap, equally enticed by the pretty lights outside. Emma had tried to reach outside many a time, still too young to understand the concept of depth perception, just because you could see something, didn't mean you could touch it. Melinda, however, was grasping for an equally shiny object that sat neatly in a velvet box on the table in front of where they were sitting.

"You want that?" Paige asked her daughter, who merely gurgled and went back to putting her thumb in her mouth, "Go ahead, take it, it's not if Mommy's gonna be putting it on anytime soon…" She said with a hint of sorrow. It was the engagement ring that Paige had found in her apartment when she had still been pregnant.

Paige didn't even know what had possessed her to being it here, of all the places, she would bring it to where it's original owner lived. Perhaps she had brought it in the slightest chance that… No, she had pushed that sort of wishful thinking far out of her head; then again, maybe _that_ was wishful thinking. She was brought back to her senses when Melinda almost fell off the chair when reaching for the table.

"What do you think, girls?" Paige asked her children, reaching her the ring off the table and holding it in front of them as they sat together on their mother's lap, "Does your father have good taste in jewelry?" The two of them remained silent, occupying themselves by chewing on their fingers with toothless gums, or looking out the window, "I'm asking my mute one year old daughters if they like a ring… And now, I'm talking to myself. Great…" She muttered, rolling her eyes at her own behaviour before jumping at the sound of a knock on the door, "Who is it?" Paige called innocently, slowly clutching a potion vial from the small table next to the chair.

"It's me." Aidan's muffled voice came from behind the oak doorway.

She kept a hold of the potion, readying herself for being tricked, "It's open."

The door handle was pushed down and it opened. Aidan's head appeared in the doorway and raised his eyebrows, smiling slightly at Paige. She instantly put the potion down, knowing that only Aidan could smile like that. He walked in, folding his arms across his chest and grinning at the three of them on the lounger.

"Now, you see, if I know Paige Matthews, you've probably got something ready to stop me in my tracks if you think I'm not the real deal. Am I right?" Aidan asked her, trying to look around them to see if a vial was sitting there.

Paige took this as a chance to hide the engagement ring while he was distracted, shoving it down in between her and Emma while he wasn't looking. Aidan let out a laugh as he noticed the green liquid filled vial sitting on the small stand next to the seat. The witchlighter looked up just in time to catch his gaze before he noticed her fidgeting.

"So… What are you doing here at two in the morning?" She asked, smiling a little.

He frowned, "You didn't call me? I felt you calling and I decided I should just knock on the door instead of splashing in." Aidan admitted bashfully while Paige raised an eyebrow at his story.

"I didn't call-," She was cut off when both of the girls began to bounce ecstatically on her lap, smiling widely and reaching for their father while letting out excited giggles. Paige struggled to keep them with her, until Melinda and Emma vanished from her in a cloud of orbs and a torrent of glowing blue water. A bubble began to float in front of Aidan, along with a flurry of white and blue lights. Preempting his daughters' mischief, he held out his arms and the two reappeared, instantly latching onto their father's shirt and moving in closer. Paige smirked and fell back into the chair with her arms folded, "I didn't call you, _they_ did. Little terrors…" She murmured playfully.

"Wait… Did Mel just use her powers?" Aidan asked with a hint of worry in his voice, looking into the face of his beaming daughter.

"What? Orbing? Oh yeah, she orbs about all the time. I guess it's only the witchy powers that are affected by her fluctuating magic. Although oddly enough, I don't think she can use her shield." Paige shrugged, "It must be because, no matter what form it takes, it's still a witch power."

"They're so beautiful…" He whispered, kissing them on the head and holding them closer. It was this sort of thing that Aidan missed most about not being with the twins on a regular basis. Just moments like this, with Paige, just being a family, things that he could never have.

"Wow… Looks like all they needed was you." Paige commented, noticing as Melinda closed her eyes and lay her head down on her father's shoulder. Even Emma's usually energetic and curious nature was being beaten by the tiredness that was now creeping up on the one year old. "I'll help you get them to bed…" She said, standing up and slowly taking a sleeping Melinda from the Elemental's arms.

Paige walked towards the door that led to the adjoining room where the girls slept. She placed her daughter down on the small bed that had low bars on the side so she wouldn't fall out, while Aidan laid down Emma, who was just about to nod off. Pulling in the large chord that hung next to the window, Paige brought the blind down to shut out any light that would impair any sleeping attempts.

"I can't believe how fast they're growing." Aidan commented as they shut the door carefully, stealing a final glace at his sleeping children before turning back main room. Paige stayed at the crack in the door for a little longer, smiling at her daughters, until Aidan's voice made her freeze up.

"Hey, what's this?"

She turned round to see him picking up the royal blue velvet box from the couch. A flash of lightning blinded them both momentarily and when her vision returned, Paige's ears twitched as thunder shook the room, it as almost enough to match the pale shock etched into her ex's face as he look into the now open box.

"This is…" He began, instantly recognizing the diamond ring that was sitting snuggly in the velvet covered foam.

"Yeah. I found it in your seat… The note too…" She admitted, "I guess we're lucky you didn't pop the question before everything kicked off, it would have made things a lot more complicated when you left."

Aidan raised an eyebrow and shifted his gaze to Paige, "What makes you think I still would have left if we were… you know…"

She folded his arms and crossed the room, her body language telling that she was protecting herself, "C'mon. This is your destiny, you're not meant to be with me, you're married to your duties. Actually, I think that was one of our problems when we were together. Boyfriend, elemental… either way there was something more important."

"I'm sorry you feel that way, but I was trying to save us. I would try and fix every problem so we could be together. Besides, it was your little quest for knowledge that landed me here."

Paige's eyes widened until it looked unnatural. She couldn't believe the audacity he had to blame her for their break up. Was it her fault he had left pregnant? Her fault that she had been left to raise twins on her own? Her fault for everything falling apart in the first place! The witchlighter had to resist the urge to punch him again, like she had done when he had first come back into her life.

"How… _dare_ you blame me! Maybe I wouldn't have had to find things out for myself if I hadn't had to put up the constant secrets that seemed to follow you wherever you went! Namely, the ones that would always end up involving me some way or another!" She exclaimed, her cheekbones exposed she sucked in her cheeks with rage.

"I didn't mean it like that! I just meant that… if you hadn't said that spell, I could have avoided all of this!" He shouted, gesturing wildly to the room around them, "I would never have had to come back to this place and I never would have left you!"

"Oh yeah? What would have happened then, Aidan? You probably would have tried to take care of the matter of you being a prince all by yourself. What if you hadn't come back? What if you had got stuck here? I would have been worried because you would have left me pregnant. Trust me, our break up was certainly necessary, but it was entirely your fault!" She spat back, turning her back on him and putting a hand on her forehead.

Aidan suddenly threw the ring to the floor in a rage, his brow furrowed and his eyes narrowed, "I can't live like this!" He shouted, "You're angry at me for leaving you, I get it that, but I can't do anything about that now! I have apologized into I'm blue in the face! What's my next punishment, Paige? Are you gonna take Mel and Emma away from me? Because, I will tell you right now, I won't stand for it."

She whipped around with her mouth wide open, "What kind of horrible vindictive person do you think I am? So much for knowing me. And what do you mean you 'can't live like this'? From where I'm standing, you've got it pretty sweet."

"I mean that I can't keep bottling up my feelings then letting them out in fits of rage. Paige, I love you. You have been the only thing in my entire life that has meant anything to me. And to fight with you, to not be with you, to not be with our children, it's killing me!" He let out a roar and put his hands on the back of his head, pacing in circles, "I just wish there was some way for-,"

Aidan was cut off by Paige suddenly leaping on him, wrapping her legs tightly around his waist and locking her arms around his neck as she kissed him more passionately than she ever had. The elemental placed his hands on the bottom of her thighs, holding her in place and returning the kiss. He reveled in her touch, as she ran her hands through his hair, around his neck, across his shoulders, everything just seemed so right.

Paige pulled back slightly, running a delicate hand across his cheek as her eyes reddened with tears, "I love you too…" She whispered so softly that anyone that wasn't as close as Aidan wouldn't have heard her. The elemental replied with eye contact, the calm green orbs where now filled with passion, lust, and love as he walked backwards towards the bed, still carrying his love.

* * *

Pamela hit the letter off her hand repeatedly as a tornado of white lights swirled fiercely in the centre of the circle of ignited candles. She had racked her brain, thinking of anyone, dead or alive, who could help her with dilemma, and there where only two people in the universe she could think of.

Her hope was shattered when, instead of the people she wanted, Prue Halliwell stood as an incorporeal being, smiling nervously and picking at her cuticles as she looked at her daughter with a soft gaze. Pamela's nostrils instantly flared in anger as she stepped around the Book of Shadows to challenge the deceased Charmed One.

"You have got to be kidding me… I'm in the middle of a crisis and you go and intercept a spiritual call? That's low. I'm blowing out this candle." She growled, taking a step forward as mist blew from her mouth, preparing to snuff the small flame with a cloud of ice.

"No! Wait! Please don't!" Prue pleaded, holding up her hands in a stopping motion, "You can't intercept calls to the afterlife; you must have subconsciously summoned me…" She said with a hint of guilt in her voice, knowing that Pamela probably didn't want her here. "Hey, is that from a college?" She asked, pointing at the letter in the teen's hand.

"Um… Yeah," She bashfully replied.

"Well, open it! What college is it from?" Prue asked with a hint of excitement in her voice, remembering the thrill of waking up to a letter from a college you had applied to, although from the look of Pamela's face, she wasn't feeling it.

Pamela held up the envelope so her mother could see it, "NYU. But… can we just talk about something for a minute? Before I open this."

The eldest Charmed One nearly jumped at the chance, "Sure… What's wrong?" She asked, keeping her composure as to not put her off talking. There was something in her daughter's eyes that Prue recognized, but she wanted to confirm her suspicions before she said anything rash. "Um… Pam? Do you even… want to go to college?"

Her glistening blue eyes widened, "Of course I do! It's just…" She sighed and walked towards the table that they used to make potions, leaning on it and looking down at her feet, "I'm needed here."

"And… what's making you think like that?"

"Emma." Pamela replied simply, "Emma's making me think like that… I not sure if Piper can manage by herself. I mean, I know she's not alone in the literal sense, but in the financial sense…" She trailed off and licked her lips, "I have to stay here, I'm needed. Not to mention I would miss everyone like hell."

Prue gave her a sympathetic glance and pursed her lips, "Pam, you were born to spread your wings. I can see it and how many times have we seen each other? Everyone else sees it. You're full of energy, curiosity, passion. You can't stay here; the only thing you would be doing is making yourself miserable and inflicting guilt on those around you…"

Pamela raised an eyebrow, "Speaking from personal experience?"

"Yeah, I wanted to see the world. Actually, me and your Dad were planning to go backpacking after college. But then there was stuff and… we had to go our separate ways. I always regret not seeing the world, and now look where I am." The ghost looked down, putting her hands behind her back and dwelling on what could have been, but this mood didn't last long as she shot up with a beaming smile, "So, are you going to open that thing?"

"Alright…" She said lowly, tearing the tab off the back and quickly yanking the paper out of its confinement. Her eyes darted from side to side as she read what it said, her frown growing as she processed everything. She looked up, an ecstatic smile stretched across her face, "I got in!" Pamela squealed, before her grin vanished, "But-,"

Prue put her hand up, "No buts, things will work out. I can assure you of that."

"How though?"

"I may have been a crappy mother, but I would never lie to you. C'mon, just trust me. Everything's gonna be fine." The Charmed One gave her daughter and wink and spoke with such conviction that Pamela couldn't help but believe her words, "So, where are your aunts?"

"Um… Piper and Phoebe are getting Paige's apartment ready for her coming back today." She replied, "She's been staying with Aidan ever since Emma died."

At this, Prue's eyes lit up with a mischievous glint, a smirk played on her smirk as she spoke, "Hey, when you speak to Paige today, tell to look in her pocket and she'll know what to do."

Pamela frowned, "Huh?"

"Just do it. She'll understand." The witch said with a smirk, turning on her heel and preparing to return to the afterlife, but she turned her head just as she was about to leave, "And Pam, have a little faith in your family, alright? Don't turn out like me." She cocked her head, "As we all know that's your worst fear."

Pamela chuckled, trying to repress the smile on her face, "Thanks… Mom."

"Your welcome," She said back, keeping a neutral face until turning back around grinning, "Oh. Who were you trying to summon anyway?"

"Huh? No, no one, its nothing," Pamela replied, waving the notion away with her hand that still had the letter in it.

"Oh… Okay,"

A spiral of swirling lights engulfed the Charmed One as she made her way back to her rightful realm, a flash was released as she disappeared completely, leaving Pamela to think of the things her mother had said and comparing to what she thought the people who she had wanted to summon would have said.

The Walkers.

* * *

Paige smiled slightly when the clip went together with a small click, strapping in Emma into the double stroller safely along with her sister. The witchlighter moved a lock of curly blonde hair away from the child's face, cupping her cheek and giving her daughters a look filled with bittersweet emotions as thought of who they got their blonde hair and green eyes from.

She looked up towards the large mechanical object in front of her. It was a large circular platform; intricate runes were carved around the edge, obviously there to be part of the magic that fueled the machine. In the centre, there was a large blue disc, emblazoned with the Atlantian crest, made up of a majestic leviathan coiled around a long sword. Paige swung her white leather jacket around her shoulders, taking the leash off the handle of the stroller and pulling it slightly as an order for Sandy to come to her heel.

The witch struggled as she pulled the pushchair up the small flight of steps that led to the platform, walking towards the middle and standing expectantly, waiting for anything to happen. She stood there for a few minutes, before sighing and tying the dog's leash back to the stroller, "I have no idea how to work this thing!" Paige exclaimed.

"Maybe I can help?" She spun around on the spot and her heart skipped a beat when she saw Aidan standing under the stone arch that was the entrance of the room that held the only way to get to the outside world. "You weren't even going to say goodbye?" He asked, his voice filled with hurt, not anger.

"I'm sorry…" She bowed her head, "You know I'm not good with goodbyes, and you remember how swimmingly our last proper goodbye was. Me clinging to your shirt and you trying to avoid hitting smacked in the jaw."

He walked around the platform, climbing the steps and walking towards her, "So you decided to just creep out of the bed while I was still sleeping?"

"Well, at least you get your room back," She replied with a forced smile, watching as he knelt down and stroked Melinda's head, "And you'll be seeing these two in a weeks time so I didn't really see the need for you to see them."

"Well…" Aidan began as he stood to his full height, "I wanted to say goodbye to you, no matter how bad you think you are at them," He murmured solemnly, taking her hands in his and kissing her fingers delicately, making Paige's heart break even more with every lightly placed peck.

"If... If-if we're serious about…" She swallowed, trying to restore moisture to her mouth, "Never seeing each other… again. Y-Yo… You should probably… send people… to pick up the girls from now on." The witchlighter finally managed to breathe out, silently thanking Aidan for letting go of her hands, knowing that her willpower wouldn't have lasted much longer if he had continued.

"Okay…" He whispered, "I can't believe we're doing this…" The elemental added, glancing around Paige when Sandy let out a sad whine and lay down, bowing her head.

Paige scrunched her eyes up, salty tears falling silently down her cheeks as she did so, "We… can't see each other with… without…" She retracted her eyelids, revealing the reddened orbs underneath as she broke down, "Being together… This is the only way for us to move on…"

It killed her when he wrapped his arms around her, holding her close in a hug and kissing her hair, stroking it lovingly. Paige moved closer to his body, savouring the warmth as long as she could and hearing his heart beat erratically. The witch placed her hands on his upper arms, snuggling closer and clinging to whatever self control she had left.

"I wish that-,"

"I know…" Paige cut him off as she pulled away, wiping her eyes with her sleeve and sniffing, "So do I." Aidan began to walk away, taking her hand and giving it a squeeze as his eyes glistened with tears that seemed to be on the verge on being released. "Oh screw it…" Paige growled to herself, walking after him and turning him around violently, putting her hand on the back of his neck and pulling him down a passionate kiss. Aidan closed his eyes and placed his hands firmly on her hips, not wanting to let her go and wishing that the kiss could last forever.

Paige gulped again as she pulled away from his lips, keeping her hand on the back of his neck as she licked her lips, feeling a salty taste on her tongue as she licked away her tears, "I love you." She said, with the most firmness she had managed to muster during the entire conversation.

Aidan sighed and placed a hand on her cheek, brushing her tears away with his thumb and stroking her smooth skin, "I love you too…" He replied softly, wrenching himself away to walk down the stairs and activate the teleporter.

Paige walked back to the stroller, holding onto the handle so tight that her knuckles turned white. Her eyes were locked on Aidan as he mentally began to send her home with his powers. He glanced to one side of the platform; runes began to glow with an eerie blue light as it spread to all the carvings in the stone surface. Once all the marking were shining with a turquoise shimmer, the main disc in the centre lit up in the same manner. Slowly, Paige, Sandy, and the stroller, all began to turn into the water. The witchlighter gasped at her feet as the effect spread upwards before she was completely made of liquid. Quickly glancing up, she waved weakly to a Aidan with a watery hand before falling apart, and splashing out the castle, and out of his life.

* * *

"Paige!" Phoebe exclaimed, running to her recently materialized sister across the apartment living room and putting one arm around her neck, hugging her with a large grin on her face, patting her baby sister's back with the free hand.

"Hey Pheebs, planning on letting her breathe anytime soon?" Piper put a hand on her hip and raised an eyebrow. The middle Charmed One pulled away, shooting a playful glare in her big sister's direction and moving out of the way. "Welcome home," Piper said, hugging Paige lovingly with a smile, "We've certainly missed you."

Phoebe took a seat on the arm of the black leather couch, "So, how are you?" She said with a sympathetic smile, knowing of her sister's condition before she left. Piper sighed at her little sister again, turning to Paige.

"I'm sure that came out a lot more intrusive than it was meant." The eldest said with a tone, obviously thinking that Paige still needed to be handled carefully, "But seriously, how are you?" She asked, putting a supportive hand on her shoulder.

Paige smiled at the sisterly banter that she had missed during her absence, "I'll be fine as long you guys don't act like I've got a bull in my china shop." She narrowed her eyes as she replayed what she had said in her head, "That came out a lot dirtier than I realized…"

"Noted." Phoebe said with a smile, before her happiness vanished from her face and she doubled over in pain, letting out a choked gasp of hurt as she clutched her chest, "Oh my God…" She locked eyes with her little sister, who merely frowned in response and walked forward in concern.

Piper helped Phoebe towards the couch, assisting her in sitting down and rubbing her back tenderly, "What happened?"

The witch looked up, slightly out of breath and stared at Paige, who had sat down on the coffee in front of the couch, "Her heart… She's breaking on the inside…" Phoebe managed to breathe, letting out another choked yelp as another wave of heartbreak hit her. There was something buried underneath the hurt though, something that gave Phoebe familiar tingle. Love.

Paige buried her head in her hands, it wasn't bad enough that she was hurting; Phoebe had to be feeling her pain too? This was too much; she ran her hands through her hair before going back to covering her face. She just wanted to shut it all out, she wanted to move on, she wanted to forget the pain that was tearing her in two, not to mention her sister.

"Paige, what the hell happened?" Phoebe said, keeping her hand over her heart. The only time she had felt this feeling through her empathy was before Piper had lost herself after losing Leo when he became an Elder. She couldn't allow Paige to become the same way.

The youngest Charmed closed her eyes with a sigh as she tried to calm down, "Um… Aidan and I decided never to see each other again." She sniffed, refusing to cry over something she had no control over now, "He's going to send people to pick up the girls every other weekend."

"What?" Piper frowned, glancing quickly over to Phoebe as she straightened up, the pain subsiding as Paige talked about what happened.

She covered her ears, shaking her head, "I don't want to talk about it!" Paige shouted, standing up and going towards the twins as they were stirred by her loudness. "I don't want your input, you guys. I'm sorry, I just… I need to talk to someone who doesn't talk back. Like these two." She grinned at her children as she tickled them, making them giggle and smile.

Piper walked towards her baby sister, kneeling down next to her and looking into her eyes, "Then I think we both know there's only one person who can fit that criteria and still give you comfort, as I don't think you should be telling your kids how much you can't see their father."

Paige frowned for a minute, thinking of who Piper could be talking about, until her eyes widened with both realization and fear, instantly knowing the one person that would be able to silently console her.

* * *

_Emma DeLauro_

_1978 – 2008_

_Beloved Friend and Mother_

_One Of The Kindest People You Ever Could Meet_

Paige traced the black letters in the marble with her finger as she got down on her knees in front of the memorial plaque that had been made in Emma's name. It was peaceful here, Paige certainly couldn't argue with that, and she also couldn't deny that she was in good company. She pursed her lips, taking the wilting flowers out of the small silver cup next to the plaque, and putting in a fresh bouquet of white tulips with a sniff.

"I'm sorry I haven't been here before…" She said as she began to brush away the moss and the grass that had grown over the marble, "Although, I wish I had, because someone's gotta make sure this thing stays clean so people know what a great person you are… were," Paige corrected herself, taking a deep breath and shaking her head, "What am I doing here…? I mean, you're not exactly going to be here, especially after we released your ashes… And yet I'm still talking to a stone, great."

Paige went back to getting rid of the overgrowth, picking at pieces of moss with her nails and ripping out grass that had grown so long that it was covering the smooth marble surface. She ripped away the grass at the bottom and picked off another piece of moss, before narrowing her eyes at a part of the plaque that had been covered by the overgrowth, it was something that Emma had wanted in her will.

"_You will experience many things in life; they will shape you, mold you, and make you the person you are today. But there is one thing in this world that will not change you, but it will stay with you forever, and haunt you if you ignore it, and that thing is love."_

Paige placed her hand on the words, whimpering slightly as a slew of emotions hit her at the same time. She couldn't live like this, everything felt so hard, so difficult, and the only person she wanted to be with was out of her reach forever, there was no turning back on her decision. The witchlighter looked up, fresh tears shining in her eyes as she put her hand above her eyes to shield them from the sun that was beating down on her, silently wishing that the ground would just swallow her whole.

"Paige?"

The witchlighter turned around, only to see her niece standing behind her with a confused expression on her face. Pamela was holding a bouquet of orchids in front of her chest, bouncing slightly from foot to foot awkwardly as she looked at her aunt.

"Looks like you had the same idea as me," Pamela smiled as she knelt down, putting the flowers into the silver pot along with Paige's. "It's easier to talk to someone when they're not right in front of you, isn't it?" She peered down at the moisture on the plaque, where her aunt's tears had fell, "We never really figured out what this inscription meant." The teen moved her hands across the lettering, before letting out a gasp as she was pulled into a premonition.

* * *

_The back door of the Manor, two women were sitting on the step. One of them had blonde curly hair while the other had deep auburn coloured hair down to her shoulders. Both of them were taking draws from cigarettes that were perched in between their fingers. It was Emma DeLauro, and Paige's future daughter, Emma Parker. The vision began as the two were in mid conversation._

"_Which brings me to my next question… What's wrong with Mel?"_

_Future Emma run a hand through her hair, "Every witch has a magical essence. Mel's isn't consistent and it effects her health, sometimes she'll be extremely powerful, which makes her extremely ill, and sometimes she won't be able to use her telekinetic orbing without fainting,"_

"_Wow… Must have been hard Paige and Aidan,"_

"_No… It was hard on Mom. Dad wasn't around much…" Future Emma scowled, "And Pamela was there for us even more afterwards…"_

"_After what?" Emma laid a hand on the teen's shoulder, "You can tell me,"_

"… _It was just a normal afternoon. I wasn't at the house with Mom and Mel, I can't remember why… Anyway, a demon attacked, and… my Mom wasn't looking. She was helping Mel after she fainted, and the demon caught her off guard and…"_

_Emma's eyes had begun to mist up as the blonde told this story, "Oh my God."_

"_Pam was like a mother to us after it happened. She took us in, helped us so much,"_

_A tear fell down the redhead's cheek, "Is… is there anyway to stop this?"_

"_Yeah…" Future Emma mashed her cigarette into the stone step, "You can get my parents back together,"

* * *

_

Pamela came out of the vision calmly, as it had only been a conversation she had witnessed, and not any violence. "Emma…" She whispered, remembering a time when they all thought they would stay together like a family, "It's for you…" She said, turning to Paige.

"What?"

"The inscription, it's meant for you."

"How did you get all that from one premonition? What did you see?" Paige asked, bending down to ask her quietly as people walked by, going to another grave.

Pamela thought back on the conversation she had witnessed, deciding it was probably best for Paige not to know, "It doesn't matter… Wait…" She whispered, "Look in your pocket." She ordered, receiving a strange look from her aunt, "Just humour me and do it, please?"

With a sigh, Paige reached into her jean pocket, frowning as she felt something in there. She grasped at the object, yanking it out of her pocket and pulling it out in front of her eyes. Her heart skipped a beat when she saw the royal blue velvet box, it was the engagement ring. Opening it cautiously, there was a new piece of paper inside, along with the ring. The witchlighter opened up the paper, her mouth falling open as she let out a sob.

_Something to remember me by,_

_Aidan._

Paige cast her eyes over the inscription that lay on Emma's memorial plaque. She stared at it with narrowed eyes, frowning with determination and crumpling the piece of paper up in her fist. She shoved the ring back into her pocket, grabbed Pamela's wrist and made them both disappear in a flurry of white and blue orbs.

She knew what she had to do.

* * *

A large fork of purple lightning ripped across the sky over Atlantis. It was followed by an earthshaking rumble of thunder, making the tiles on the roof shake and some even falling off, smashing on the cobbled street below. Rain lashed the ground, making a harsh pinging sound as every drop fell, drenching the city as black storm clouds moved even closer.

Rain water overflowed from a gutter, causing a constant heavy drip to fall into the alleyway beneath. There was a howling noise as the wind picked up around the narrow passage. Slowly, a disc of dark blue watery light grew bigger and bigger before there was a flash and the four Halliwell witches stood in its place. Each of them instantly let out a yelp at the rain that had the quad soaked instantly.

"You didn't mention a storm!" Phoebe spat, holding her hands above her hands in a futile attempt to keep herself dry.

"That's because she hasn't thought this through." Pamela snapped back, "I mean, do you realize how crazy this is? We'll be lucky enough to get past all the guards. But hey, what are we waiting for? I love a challenge," She said excitedly, rubbing her hands together in anticipation for the battle that was looming.

"Let's just get out of the rain, shall we?" Piper suggested, spotting the tall watch tower of the castle. Even in this storm, it still stood firm, "Who's ready to kick some Atlantian ass in the name of true love?" She shouted, punching the air.

"Okay, one more 'after school special' thing like that comes out of your mouth, and you're going home. Although I'm certainly game for ass kicking." Pamela replied.

"Let's go already!" Paige shoved past them, stomping out of the alleyway and into the main square, heading towards the castle as rain lashed her shoulders, drenching her dark hair and making it stick to her scalp, but she still marched on, her feet splashing in the deep puddles.

"Now there's a woman on a mission…" Phoebe said, slightly in awe of her little sister.

"Trust me, if you had been here to witness the drama of her relationship with Aidan, this would be nothing to you." Piper commented, "Hey! Wait up!" She shouted after Paige, who had almost disappeared from sight as they ran after her, lightning tearing apart the sky as they walked.

* * *

Aidan stared into his reflection on the window. Rain was obscuring the view immensely and the only thing he could see was the occasional bolt of lightning flying across the sky. The citizens knew better than to go out in this sort of weather, it was expected in the Atlantian winter. The city was coping well with the extreme conditions, thanks to the channel of underground tunnels that Aidan had had built in case of weather like this.

His green eyes were drained of all life as he stared into them, he was disgusted at himself, disgusted for having to be here, for having been separated from the one person he needed. The elemental put a hand on his forehead, nursing the pounding headache he had as a clap of thunder shook the building, he went back to staring at the window, not being able to stand to look at himself. Aidan let out a primal roar as he put his fist through the glass, ignoring the searing pain in his hand and the cold wind howling through the smashed window.

"Your Majesty! There's… What happened to your hand?" A soldier asked as he burst in the door, pointing at the bleeding fist as Aidan stared down at it.

"Nothing, what is it?"

"We're under attack!" The armour clad gent replied with a frightened voice, gripping to his spear as if it was the only thing keeping him standing.

"What?" Aidan stepped forward, curious about the intruder as Atlantis hadn't been attacked in centuries. He eyed the Trident of Poseidon that was resting on the wall, summoning it to his hand quickly just in case, "By who or what?"

"Witches, Your Majesty! Powerful ones, they've already got past the main gate and have entered the castle. There are four of them, extremely destructive too! They destroyed the chains that kept the drawbridge up, that's how they got inside in the first place!" He replied.

"Okay, throw everything we have at them. Eliminate them at all costs." Aidan replied, not feeling very merciful. He turned on his heel and looked down at his gashed hand, now regretting such a stupid action as he pulled a shard of glass out of his knuckle.

"Yes Your Majesty!" The soldier gave him a salute, before running out of the room to go aid his comrades in the fight against the intruders.

* * *

Pamela threw her arm out across her chest, sending two advancing soldiers flying into the air and skidding across the wet floor. The Halliwell moved a piece of dripping hair from her face, turning towards another soldier in the hallway and gesturing roughly, blasting him back into a coat of arms that was hung on the wall. The witch then whirled on her heel, her head drooping to her chest as an astral pulse tore from her body. The energy hitting the three soldiers that were charging at her with spears raised. The power caused their armour to crumple around their bodies throw them out of the large iron doors that the four witches had thrown open with their combined powers.

Phoebe knocked the hilt of a sword that was suspended on the wall, making it fall into her hand and immediately she began to block the various spear jabs that were being thrown her way. She lunged at one soldier, tackling him to the ground and hurling the sword into his throat. The man underneath screamed in pain as he dissolved in water, Phoebe instantly losing the balance she had and falling to the floor on her butt just in time to grab a soldier by the wrists and hurl him over her head, placing her foot on his chest and pulling, rolling backwards at same time and throwing him across the room. The middle Charmed One suddenly flew up into the air, grabbing her sword as she levitated back on to her feet, taking a stance a ready to take on the next enemy as he reformed on the floor.

Piper had taken a very simple tactic. One soldier jumped into the air, aiming his spear so that it would come right down on her head. Instantly, the witch thrust out her hands, freezing the attacker and walking forwards to quickly yank the spear from his motion suspended hand and throw it through it through his chest. Steam began to seep from every crevice in the man's armour before he evaporated completely in mid air. "Ah!" Piper screamed, ducking down just in time to avoid a lethal jab from another soldier. She took a breath, orange crisscrossing lines spread over her right arm and she threw her massed out fist into her enemy's gut, denting his armour severely and hurling him through the hallway, making him land on another guard who was just getting up, knocking both out.

"Piper! Phoebe! Anybody!" Paige shouted for aid, as any power she could use in battle relied on transportation by orbs, none of her powers would help her against the soldiers that had obviously indentified her as the weakest of the group. Relying on martial arts classes she had taken with Emma, Paige spun on her heel and delivered a powerful kick to a soldier's crotch. He let out a groan of pain, dropping his spear and falling to floor, leaving the witchlighter to smirk, "Men… No matter how much armour you-," She was cut off by the downed soldier kicking her ankles, making her fall to the ground. Paige gave her enemies a frightful look. She couldn't believe this was how it was going to end, her family fighting for their lives and her with a spear in her gut.

One of soldiers raised his spear above her, Paige squinted her eyes in anticipation, and was pleasantly surprised when her attacker was thrown in her opposite direction, she grinned, "What a time to get a power back!" She immediately began to throw out her arms, sending the enemy flying in various directions and finally regaining her feet, looking at all the soldiers they had defeated.

"I said you hadn't thought this through!" Pamela said in an 'I told you so' tone, putting her hands on her hips and sighing, before making a face at her drenched hair. Each of the them were soaked head to toe. Their clothes were sticking to them, their hair was soaking, and they would probably all have the flu in the morning. Paige owed her family so much.

"Ugh! This is endless!" Piper exclaimed, gesturing to the knocked out soldiers regaining consciousness and preparing to fight once more. It was there Phoebe stood in front of the rest of them, holding her sword tightly and taking a deep breath.

"You guys keep going. I'll hold them off," She said firmly.

"Pheebs, are you crazy?" Piper exclaimed, "No! We can't! You'll-,"

"Kick major ass and catch up to you. Go!" She urged.

With one last second of hesitance, the three of them run away from the battle. In the second Phoebe turned her back, a soldier ran past her, going after Piper, Paige and Pamela. Without a sliver of doubt, the middle Charmed One spun on her heel and hurled the sword at the enemy's back, piercing his armour and making him fall to the floor before bursting into a puddle of water.

"Where'd he think he was going?" Phoebe quipped to her herself, before turning back to the fight, only to be pounced on by about ten soldiers, each of them slashing wildly with their spears as they attempted to crush the witch. However, the pile of soldiers suddenly burst outwards as Phoebe flew into air like a rocket, spinning her body so fast that she probably could have drilled through the ceiling with her head before landing on the floor delicately, ready to fight.

* * *

The three remaining witches ran along the winding halls of the castle. They could still hear the screams of soldiers being vanquished by Phoebe, but a scream ripped through the air that made all three stop in their tracks as Piper turned around, shaking, hoping that her fears weren't about to come to pass.

"ASSHOLE!" Phoebe's voice shouted, as another scream from a soldier sounded, along with an explosion. This eased the three of them as they went back to running down the halls.

Piper caught up with her little sister, who seemed to have had a burst of energy ever since her telekinetic abilities had been returned, "So, do you know where he'll be?" Paige didn't answer, "Oh God, please say you have a slight idea of where he is!"

"Yes!" Paige snapped, biting her lips when she heard the clanking of metal coming towards them from the front. Sure enough, around ten soldiers came round the corner, each holding their spears as their jagged points glowed before releasing little blue lights. Pamela tackled her aunts to the floor, letting the lights whiz over them and hit the wall, creating the scorch mark.

"Okay, just guessing, but those things could be lethal." She retorted sarcastically.

"Whoa!" Piper exclaimed, deploying her hands and freezing the group of soldiers, along with the balls of light that were now flying from the ends of their spears. The three took their chance and ran past them, turning around to make sure they were still frozen. Unfortunately, they had unfrozen as soon as the witches had got by. Piper gestured again, putting them in suspended motion and keeping her hands up, hoping to strengthen her freeze.

"This isn't working." Paige urged, "Let's just go."

Piper raised an eyebrow, "And get fried by these guys? No thank you, they're fighting through my freeze, we can't run without them coming after us in a few seconds." Distracted by conversation, Piper didn't freeze the platoon again in time, "Get behind me!" She shouted, taking a breath and quickly massing out. The magical bullets bounced off her dense structure with a tinkering sound, "Get outta here! I'll keep them busy!"

"But Piper, you can't hold out like this!" Paige urged, wincing as she heard another attack bounce off her sister's magical armour.

"You're worth it! Now go make Aidan see that!" Piper shouted.

Pamela grabbed her aunt's wrist and pulled her along, trying to keep in line with Piper so that they wouldn't be hit by the bullets. Paige looked back, a tear from her eye fell as she realized just what a sacrifice her sisters had made for her. She made a promise to herself that she would find a way to repay them for nearly losing their lives.

* * *

"What's the report?" Aidan asked the soldier that had just came into his room. He was still picking out small shards of glass from his fist, gritting his teeth as blood still flowed from his knuckles.

"The witches have separated, Your Majesty. It seems that only one is trying to get to you, the others are just here to aid her. We have soldiers battling with the two who have remained, no doubt to distract our men. The first one isn't really using her powers at all Your Majesty, she seems to gifted in martial arts and combined with her levitation, she's quite-,"

Aidan looked up, "Wait a minute, did you say her power is levitation?"

"Yes, Your Majesty, the other is using some sort of body density manipulation to withstand our warriors' onslaught. Two are still on their way though, we've prepared out best men to intercept the two, they won't get into the centre of the castle." He replied, saluting before he went to turn away, "Oh, I'm sorry, is there anything else?"

The elemental frowned. Could it really be who he thought it was? "Describe their appearance to me please."

"All of them look extremely similar. All have dark hair, out of the two that are on their way here, one is a teenager the other has skin a little paler than the others. Mind you, that could be just because they've ran through the city to get there and have got soaked along the way."

Aidan's eyes widened as he realized just who had broken into the castle, "Call off the attacks, let the four witches through." He ordered immediately, walking towards the door and taking big strides while the soldier gaped underneath his helmet.

"But, Your Majesty-,"

"Just do it!" He snapped, walking out of the room and breaking into a sprint as his feet pounded down the hall. He could only think of one reason why Paige would be storming the castle with back up, and the very thought was making his heart beat even faster and blood rush to his ears. He turned a corner, pushing a large oak door open and bursting into another part of the castle, he would find her.

No matter what.

* * *

"There!" Paige shouted, pointing to two large iron doors that had large latches shut across them, "That leads out to a bridge that connects this part of the castle with the centre. He should be in there." Her words came out with a lot more conviction than she felt, but she had to stay positive if she was serious about this.

"Uh… Paige? I think we've got company." Pamela said warily, pulling on her aunt's sleeve to alert her to the danger. Paige narrowed her eyes at the five soldiers that were walking towards the two calmly, she turned back to the door, biting her lip. These soldiers were different to others, their armour glistened with silver metal, a sign of their power.

"C'mon. let's go." The witchlighter advised, taking her niece's wrist and pulling, but Pamela stood her ground with a grin.

"Well, it's a about time I got my chance." She turned to her aunt, "Go get your man. Me and the silverware are gonna have some fun." She grinned to herself, shaking out of Paige's grip. Her chin hit her chest and a pulse of spiritual energy threw itself as the five soldiers, who spun their spears around and threw the tip into the floor, using it as a ground to keep their footing as the astral pulse passed. Pamela regained consciousness to see that her usually destructive power had done nothing, but she wasn't about to give up, "Go already!" She said, before her head drooped again and blue energy tore from her body, this time blasting the five soldiers down the corridor.

Paige made a series of gestures with her hands, and slowly the latches began to creek and groan as they were lifted away from the door telekinetically from her power. Once the iron was completely clear of anything that would stop it from opening, Paige made a pulling gesture, making the doors come apart with a groan as the metal was separated. Paige was instantly met with the raging storm outside, getting pounded by rain as she ran out, making more gestures behind her and shutting the iron doors with a bang.

Her heart skipped a beat when she saw outside. He was standing in the middle of the bridge, his clothes clinging to him from standing out in the rain for so long and his slightly longer than normal hair stuck to the back of his neck and forehead. Immediately, she ran to him, narrowing her eyes so she could see him as he walked towards her. Without any words, she threw herself at him, catching the elemental in a fierce lip lock which was only intensified when Aidan pulled her as close as their physical forms would allow, putting one arm tightly around her neck and putting his free hand on her cheek. Paige moved in as close as she could the warmth his body was giving off, putting one hand on his back and trying to pull him in even closer.

They finally pulled out of the kiss, still extremely close to each other as their drenched clothes were sticking to each other Paige let out a sob as she buried her chest in his chest, "I can't do this! I need you! I can't live without you! I'll die!" She babbled, pulling away and looking into his eyes, "I just can't…"

"Shh…" He soothed her, hugging her shaking frame and stroking her wet hair, "I'm not going anywhere, not this time, never again…" He assured her. Paige looked up and kissed him again as if she needed to him just to keep breathing, she felt him return the kiss, and realized that, the pouring rain, soaking wet, she had never been happier.

The moment was broken the iron doors were opened with a screeching groan. Paige turned around, her arms wrapped tightly around Aidan's neck, and she grinned she saw all three of her relatives standing there. Piper was currently holding up a beaten and bruised Phoebe, who winced as she touched her bleeding lip. Piper had blood pouring from her arm as she struggled to keep her sister standing. Pamela, however, looked completely fine as she smirked triumphantly at the happy couple.

"Hey Parker!" Piper yelled, "You better be worth all the blood, sweat and tears you've put our sister through!"

"Yeah, because if you break her heart again, we'll hurt you." Phoebe added with a playful glare.

"Badly." Pamela emphasized, quickly catching her aunt as she stumbled.

Aidan laughed and lovingly caressed his love's cheek, "I don't know if I deserve you…" He admitted.

Paige raised an eyebrow, "Oh trust me, you do!" She grabbed the collar of his t-shirt and pulled him into another kiss, receiving hoots and hollers from the three women standing in the doorway. It felt right. That was the only thing Paige could like as she stood in the rain with him, everything had just fell into place. Her children, her life, and now Aidan had come back to her.

"_Perfect…"

* * *

_

Pamela rubbed her hair furiously with a towel as she walked into the kitchen in her pajamas. She made a face at the towel, shaking her head and dropping it onto the table, "You know, it must have something to do with Atlantian rain, because my hair just isn't drying." She stated to her father and Piper, who seemed was in a similar situation, apart from the fact her hair was in a towel.

"Well, at least we got our feel good factor of the day." The eldest Charmed One said calmly, sipping on a cup of tea before making brief eye contact with Andy and lowering her cup, clearing her throat, "Um… Listen, Pam, we want to talk to you about something."

"Shoot." She replied absentmindedly, grabbing the towel and gritting her teeth as she rubbed her scalp.

Piper looked across to Andy with a smile, "Did you get it?"

"Yeah," He reached into his back pocket and pulled out a piece of paper, putting it on the counter and sliding it towards Pamela, who gave it a strange look before turning it over. The teen's eyes almost popped out of her head when she looked down at it, "It's a cheque-,"

"With a whole lot of zeros!" Pamela exclaimed, "What is this?"

"It's my money." Andy replied, "I had a little nest egg tucked away before I died. I never got the chance to use it so it's been sitting in a separate account for ten years. That should be more than enough to pay for your tuition."

Pamela gave him a skeptical look, "Wait a minute, you were a cop, how could you save this much money?"

Andy shrugged, "I never felt right spending the money I inherited from relatives."

"And neither did we," Piper cut in, "That's not just all his money, me and Phoebe never felt right spending the money Prue left us. So we figured what better use than to make sure her daughter goes to the college she wants?" She took another sip of the cup, "And we've never felt right spending other people's money, and after all the people that have died in this family, we have a lot of unused money. We'll use it if we have to, so don't worry about us."

Pamela looked from the cheque, "Does this mean that-,"

"You're going to NYU. We just want you to be happy." Andy replied with a smile.

The teen swallowed, tears welling up in her eyes, "Thank you…" She whispered.

* * *

Paige woke up with a feeling of grunginess hitting her immediately. A damp lock of hair was in front of her eyes as she immediately tried to sit up, until she felt an arm around her waist and she smiled as she felt someone kissing her neck from behind. The witchlighter lay back on the bed and let out a moan, before turning on the bed and smiling at Aidan.

"Morning." He grinned, his sandy blonde hair drooping across his eyes from the water it had absorbed.

Paige suddenly grimaced as she placed he reason why as she was feeling grungy, "Oh my God! I can't believe we fell asleep in these wet clothes, I'm gonna end up with the…," She cut herself as she sat up and put her hands across her mouth, compressing a sneeze, "cold…" She finished.

"Yeah," Aidan agreed, sitting up and rubbing her back, "I guess we were both a little drained from yesterday." The elemental looked around the bed, seeing two damp imprints on top of the duvet where the two had slept.

"Ugh…" She replied, sniffing, "The girls are gonna kill me if they end with the flu or something. I need a hot shower." Paige announced, going to get off the bed until she felt a strong arm around her waist that pulled her back.

"Nuh uh, we're not going anywhere." Aidan smirked, leaning down to kiss her, only for her to turn her head.

"No! I don't want you getting sick." She exclaimed, putting her hands up to his face getting any closer.

Aidan pulled her closer, "Well… I guess we have a bit of a situation, because I'm not letting you go." The two looked at each other with equally stubborn looks, before Paige broke out into a saucy grin.

"Say… care to join me in the shower?" She asked with a husky voice that dripped with seduction.

Aidan returned it with a lustful look of his own, "Love to." He replied, leaning down again and kissing softly, putting a hand on her cheek tenderly as he still clutched to her waist, before the two of them disappeared from the apartment bedroom in a burst of water.

* * *

No spoilers tonight! I'll leave you all reeling from that marathon of a chapter!


	36. Powerless

I'm really sorry you guys but I've just been so busy lately and again, I don't have time for replies. I have some stuff to sort out and it's just… ugh. Anyway, on with the next chapter!

**Powerless**

Brennan hesitated as he began to turn the key in the lock. How was he going to tell her? With such a great opportunity, he could hardly turn it down, but he knew she wouldn't take it well. Taking a breath, the mutant opened the door, walking into the dark house and immediately making his way up the stairs, rubbing his eyes as the day's work hit him.

Brennan gently opened the door to Connor's bedroom, his messy dark hair spread across the toddler's eyes as he slept calmly, before his legs thrashed a little and he kicked off his 'Batman' duvet, before turning in his sleep and going back into a peaceful slumber. Brennan suppressed a small laugh before closing the door again and making his way along the hall.

The bedroom door was already open. Brennan walked in to see Phoebe lying on the bed with her back to him. He decided to just tell her now and get it out of the way, hoping she wouldn't want to completely explode with Connor sleeping just down the hallway. Walking to the other side of the bed, he knelt down and stroked her cheek with the back of his hand, waking her up gently. The middle Charmed One's eyes fluttered open slowly, she let out a groggy, "Mmm… Hey." She whispered, smiling as her eyes drooped to a half shut status.

"Hey." Brennan replied back with the same tone, "I need to tell you something…" He whispered gently, his tone causing Phoebe become alert immediately and sit up in the bed, putting a pillow behind her back and onto the headboard.

"What is it?" She asked innocently, frowning. Phoebe stole a quick glance at the digital clock on her bedside. It was 3:37 in the morning, her heart began to pump blood through her body faster, and it had to be bad news if he had to tell right now.

He sat down on the bed next to her as she turned on the bedside lamp, "Okay, but first of all, promise that you aren't reading me at all. I want this to come from my own mouth and not just from assumptions you're making by scanning my emotions."

Her worry increased, "I promised I would never read you, and I've never once broken that promise. I trust you." She said, bowing her head slightly at catch his eyes as he had bowed his head, "Should I not?"

Brennan took her hand, making the witch's dread increase, "You know that, no matter what happens, I love you, right?" He asked it with so much conviction that Phoebe thought he would die if she said no.

"Of I course I do. Brennan, you're scaring me, what's going on?" She clenched her jaw and gulped, "You haven't… um… reverted to your old ways, have you?" Phoebe asked, all the colour draining from her face, knowing that _she_ would die if his answer was yes.

He raised an eyebrow and let out a chuckle, "What? No, nothing like that."

"Then what couldn't wait till a saner hour?"

Brennan took a breath, tightening his hold on her hand, "I got an offer at work today. The hospital would give a rise in pay, which would be good for all of us, but it would entail a lot of traveling." He replied, focusing on the headboard to the side of Phoebe as he spoke, "Phoebe, I've… been asked to join Doctors Without Borders." Brennan finally confessed, "It would mean that-,"

"I know what it would mean." Phoebe cut him off with a snappish tone, turning away from her husband as all the colour drained from her face. Thoughts immediately began to rush into her head and she couldn't take it. Would she be left alone to raise Connor? Would Brennan decide to leave her permanently? But she was interrupted by the main concern of her thoughts as his face poked around the door.

"Daddy!" Connor beamed, pushing the door open and running as fast as a two year old could towards his father. The toddler didn't get to see a lot of Brennan because if his job, and that time would be cut even more if he were to leave.

"Hey!" Brennan grinned from ear to ear, getting off the bed and grabbing his son in a hug, "And just what woke you up, big guy?" He asked, pulling back and looking into Connor's calm blue eyes, which seemed extremely alert at this moment.

Brennan was so busy greeting his son that he didn't notice that Phoebe had thrown the covers off her bed and got out the other side. She grabbed her brown suede coat from a hanger on the wardrobe handle before grabbing a bobble from her vanity and quickly tying her long hair back before leaving the room.

"Yoo into ma room." Connor replied in a matter of fact tone and giving his dad a glare that was like Phoebe's it was uncanny.

Before Brennan could answer, Phoebe came back into the room with a large bag slung over her shoulder. She was still in her pajamas, apart from the fact that her jacket was now on her shoulders, while white sneakers adorned her feet. The Charmed One threw the bag onto the bed and walked over to her closet, pulling it open and immediately began putting clothes into the bag.

"What are you doing?" Brennan asked with a frown, hoisting Connor onto his hip and watching as his wife filled the bag with various articles of clothing.

"Uh… I… need to get out of here." She stuttered out, "There's a list on the refrigerator that I usually leave for the Elvin nanny. Anything Connor needs should be on that list so he'll be okay." Phoebe quickly zipped up the bag and put it on her shoulder, leaving the room.

Brennan gawked at where she once stood, "Phoebe! Wait!" He shouted after her, leaving the room as Phoebe practically run down the stairs, heading for the front door and wanting out of there as quickly as possible. He finally caught up with her, putting a hand on her shoulder and turning her around gently, "I shouldn't have sprung that on you. I'm sorry, but-,"

"I'm gonna go stay at Piper's." She smiled at Connor, running her hand across her son's cheek before kissing his forehead, "You be good for Daddy, okay? Mommy will be back tomorrow, so get back to bed…" She opened the door, before looking back at Brennan, "We'll talk later…" Phoebe whispered hoarsely, before stepping out and pressing the button on her keys, unlocking her Mini.

She slung her bag in the passenger seat, turning on the ignition and giving a final look to the two of them, before she looked backwards, making sure there was no traffic and reversing out of the driveway. Phoebe casually wiped her eyes from any moisture that may have fell from them as she slammed down on the accelerator and sped down the street.

* * *

Pamela slept peacefully with her fists around the covers, pulling them up over her even more, as goosebumps hit her skin from the sudden change in temperature in the room. However, the goosebumps immediately disappeared and her grip on the covers loosened as a source of extreme heat entered the room in the form of a raging tower of flames. As the flames subsided, a leather clad tall man with wild black hair stood there, the Nameless One.

His mouth twisted into a crooked smile as he looked at the slumbering witch, whose expression immediately darkened, subconsciously sensing the evil that had invaded her room. He walked to her side of the bed, sitting down slowly as he pulled out a small black pouch from one his many pockets. The demon reached into the item he had revealed, bringing out a fine dust in between his fingertips and sprinkling it lightly on Pamela's face.

The teen's face gave off a soft glow, before a thin looking stream of energy shot from it. The energy hit the floor, slowly rising up at it created a being, once it reached a certain height, it stopped abruptly, and leaving a girl that looked exactly like Pamela standing in the exact same pair of pajamas.

The girl scowled at the Nameless One, "By what means have I acquired a body of my own?" She inquired with a rich Scottish accent, indicating who she was. Prudence frowned at Pamela, who still slept peacefully in the bed. "You must be a powerful demon to have destroyed a spell that was centuries old and even a labour for me to cast. Although my admiration has been clouded by your tampering with forces that took years for me to set in place." The witch growled.

"I have a proposition for you, Prudence." The demon said lowly, standing up, "Bear in mind, if you were to refuse, I can send you back from whence you came just as easily as I released you from your present life's host." He smirked, "It would certainly be in your best interests to go along with what I'm about to say."

Prudence let out a quiet laugh and folded her arms, "Your eyes are thick with dishonesty and your pathetic excuse for a soul has been corrupted by the cowardice that forced you to evil in the first place…" She turned away and shook her head, "You demons are all the same…" The witch snarled to herself, before turning round and facing her enemy, "However, I shall listen."

"The Book of Shadows." The Nameless One stated, pacing the room as Pamela still slept on, oblivious to the stand off that was happening in her presence, "It's the source of your descendant's powers, it's the reason why they are able to thwart you at every turn. If you help me destroy it, I'll make sure you never need to share again, if you know what I mean." He grinned, glancing down at Pamela to get his point across.

Prudence cocked her head, "I created that book, what makes you think I will let you obliterate something that I dedicated years of my life to?"

He shot her a menacing smile, "Come on, a smart witch like yourself would hardly pour all her knowledge and power into one book, you don't strike me as the 'all your eggs one basket' kind of person."

The witch kept a neutral expression. She had dealt with demons all the time in the 17th Century, even worked with some to achieve her goal. But it all hadn't been enough in the end. A longing look spread over her face as she thought of the situation that had landed her on the pyre in the first place. If she had been minutes earlier…

"Very well." She replied flatly, "However, I must extract something from the book's pages before I help you in any way at all."

The Nameless One raised an eyebrow before nodding, "Alright, it's not as if it'll matter when it's just a pile of ash." He said, before noticing Pamela stir in her sleep. His eyes widened when he saw her eyelids flicker, before the demon immediately vanished in a pillar of fire, glancing at Prudence and nodding his head.

"Extraxi." The witch whispered firmly, before a golden flash that lasted for a millisecond flew through the room, carrying her to the attic instantly.

* * *

Prudence hastily made her way towards the Book of Shadows as soon as she materialized. She could already hear the thudding on the floorboards down on the lower level as Pamela raced towards the attic, determined to stop the intruder that had invaded her room. The Nameless One walked towards the witch with a thunderous expression, his eyes bulging and his fists clenched.

"Do what you have to do." He growled, "Fast."

She shot a heated glare in the demon's direction. If there was one thing she and Pamela had in common, it was that they didn't respond to such disrespectful orders, but for now she had no choice. Taking a quick glance at the triquetra on the cover, Prudence sighed and shook her head, knowing that her daughter or Melinda had probably changed its appearance to conceal it. She turned to two blank pages, holding out her hands as poppy seeds seemed conjure themselves from nowhere, the witch sprinkled them on pages, chanting as she did.

"Ostendo sum specialis intus is libri…" She said lowly, closing her eyes to concentrate and cast her enchantment over the book.

It happened to so subtly that you wouldn't be able to tell where it began. Slowly, ink began to bleed through to the pages, gradually building up and forming text that had been beautifully written in deep blue ink. The witch slowly moved her palm across the parchment, the writing disappearing as quickly as it had come as it passed underneath her hand. She gave a triumphant look to the once again blank pages, secretly knowing that her spell had done more to the book than just reveal what she had wanted.

The Nameless One turned on his heel, facing the attic door as Pamela rushed in, immediately surveying the situation. The demon snarled as a plume of flames brought a roaring fireball to his hand, he brought his arm back, hurling it at the witch, only to have her raise her hand, telekinetically pushing the orb back with even more force, pounding into its owner's chest and reducing him to a cloud of swirling molecules.

"Now for you…" Pamela snarled, not taking the time to realize that this was the first time her and Prudence had truly come face to face. Acting on instinct, she went to throw her arm across her chest, but her past life was quicker.

"Stupefactus!" She shouted, a bullet of golden light zooming from the tip of her index finger and making its way towards Pamela, who was struck in the chest and thrown back forcefully into the open attic door, splintering the wood as she collided with it and falling to the floor.

The teen let out a groan of irritated pain as she pushed herself up with her hands, seeing the Nameless One reform into the greasy haired demon that he really was. Her brow creased with anger as she threw out her arm again, not knowing what power she was going to summon, but she had to stop them.

"_Take the fall." _

Her eyes widened, had she thought that? It had definitely been her voice that she had heard, but it wasn't like her to run away from a fight. Now the witch was even more confused, until she caught Prudence's eyes and instantly understood.

"_Take. The. Fall."_

There was something within the green eyes that made Pamela question everything that her family had told her about her. Pain, sadness, and a glimmer of vengeance sparkled in the emerald orbs as Prudence tucked the Book of Shadows under her arm. The Nameless One gave Pamela a sly smirk as he took her past life roughly as the wrist, before the two were consumed in a raging fire, transporting the two of out of the attic.

* * *

A screeching sound tore through the cavern as a fireball was extinguished on the contact with the deep yellow coloured shield that had risen around the Book of Shadows. The dome retreated back into the triquetra on the cover, almost taunting its attacker. The Nameless One growled, deciding to take a direct approach and just storm forward. His hands grasped at the book, this time, the Halliwell tome repelled him with a powerful electric jolt, throwing him into the air and making him land on the floor at Prudence's feet.

"Its defenses have improved since it was in my care. My descendants were extremely cautious it seems." She said, smirking from the large flat headed stalagmite where she sat, her legs crossed over one another casually as she mocked the recovering demon.

He got up with a growl, wiping down his clothes and grimacing, "You created that book; you should be able to destroy it no matter how much magic is protecting it."

She narrowed her eyes at him, "It's not that simple. From I can tell, there are countless charms, hexes, enchantments, and other brands of magic protecting it, if I was to try and get rid of one, I may activate another and we would be in an even worse position than we already are."

"Then what do you suggest?" He asked, leering at the Book of Shadows with a hateful glance as the triquetra glowed, taunting its enemy.

"Throw the witch back to her host and take down the Charmed Ones yourself." Katrina's voice echoed before a there was a momentary flash of light and the Seer appeared, glaring at Prudence and keeping her black cloak tight around her body, "She got the book out of the house, I don't see why she's still here if she can't help destroy it."

Prudence's eyes narrowed in thought, "There may be a way…" She jumped off the stalagmite, walking towards the book, "I put a curse in here…" She said, flipping through the pages, "That would constrict the book's powers if in dire emergency." The witch looked up, "But I'm afraid I won't have the power to cast it, between using such powerful magic before my death and spending four hundred years dormant, my abilities are but a mere shadow of what they used to be."

"Then we might as well just send you back from whence you came." Katrina spat, laying her hand on the book without realizing, "We have the book now, and you have outstayed your welcome."

"Seer..." The Nameless One growled, staring at the hand that was resting on top of the Book of Shadows.

Katrina looked down before looking between Prudence and her master, the demon looked as if he was about to have a stroke. Wisely, she took her hand off the book, swishing her cloak and disappearing in a flash of light, narrowly avoiding the fireball that had been headed towards her as it hit the wall behind, leaving a scorch mark with a sizzle.

"DAMN HER!" He roared.

Prudence rolled her eyes, tucking the book under her arm and turning to him, "I'm going to go lure the Charmed Ones out. If I can't cast the curse, then the Power of Three is the only option you have left."

"What makes you think they'll accept that?" He spat.

The witch smirked, "I have some ideas. Abige!" She shouted, making a quick gesture and instantly vanishing in a several flashes of golden light, leaving the Nameless One seething and to throw countless fireballs at the wall in his rage.

* * *

Phoebe bit her lip, letting out a frustrated sigh and scoring the sheet of paper roughly with the pen in her hand, "That…" She ripped it off the pad, "Won't…" Crumpled it into a ball, "Work!" And threw the dud spell to the attic floor in anger, resting her elbows on the table and putting her hands on her forehead.

Piper turned around from her crouching position on the lower table, dropping the scrying crystal in her hand, "Um… Honey? Maybe I should write the spell." She suggested timidly, receiving a heated glare from her sister.

"I am perfectly capable of writing a spell, Piper." She snapped, grabbing the pen again and going back to work. "It's just tricky… A lot of factors involved. I don't know if it'll work."

The eldest Halliwell stood up and turned around, "We're not talking about the spell anymore, are we?"

Phoebe looked up, moving her hair out of her face as she did, "What are you talking about?"

"Pheebs, it's a good cause." Piper ventured into the subject warily, not wanting to spark a tantrum, "And he would be home… What? Every two months? That doesn't sound too bad."

She let out a hollow laugh, "And you think it would be perfectly normal for me to see my husband six times a _year_? And besides, it's not just me I'm thinking about, it's Connor more than anything else, how is he supposed to only see his Dad once every two months? He barely sees Brennan already as it is…"

Piper sat down in the chair across from her sister around the table, "Do you remember how I'd worry about Leo every time he orbed out? When I thought he had probably orbed to some another witch he'd sweet talked?"

"You think Brennan's gonna meet someone else?"

"No!" She replied, beginning to lose her temper slightly, "I'm just saying that… things aren't always as bad as they seem. I mean, the two months thing is a definite, but you never know how many little weekend visits you might get. Time flies, trust me. He'll come back."

Phoebe looked up; her eyes were now clear of the fury that had inhabited them ever since she had arrived on Piper's doorstep at four in the morning, "You really think so?"

"Yeah! Who else is going to make up the other half of my future niece's DNA?" Piper replied with a grin, taking her sister's hand, "Just talk to him, alright? He's probably a little shocked by your leaving this morning."

She sighed in response, "I guess you're right." The middle Charmed One replied, reaching for Piper and pulling her into a hug, "Thanks…"

"No problem."

The clicking of Pamela's heels against the wooden floor quickly made the two of them to back to what they had been doing. The teen came in, waving a heavy looking charm bracelet in her hand, "Got it." She announced, throwing it to Piper, who missed the catch as the keys slid across the table. "How's that spell coming?"

Piper looked around, knowing that Pamela would probably get angry at Phoebe not having come up with a spell yet, "Um… Actually-,"

"Done!" The middle Charmed One grinned, ripping the paper off the pad and walking over to the scrying table, "Should we call Paige?" She asked as she handed the spell to her big sister.

Piper waved her hand, "Nah, we should be able to do this by ourselves. Let her enjoy some bliss while she can." She picked up the dark red garnet crystal again, holding the charm bracelet in one hand, "All we need is a location."

"And transport." Pamela added, her head falling backwards as she looked towards the ceiling, "Leo! She yelled, calling for her uncle.

A space in the room glowed an eerie blue as lights filtered down through the ceiling. The orbs took on a large form that was soon revealed to be Leo and Brennan. Phoebe's expression immediately hardened at the sight of her husband, until the tension was smashed by Piper's triumphant yell.

"Oh! Got her! She's at…" The witch moved the crystal slightly to see the address, "Oh look, she's at that old ceramics factory that Grams used to work at."

"What are you two doing together?" Phoebe asked with a neutral expression.

The two men shared a look, "We were just talking about something," Leo replied, sharing a glance with Phoebe that immediately told her they had been talking about Brennan's new job.

"Oh, for Gods sakes!" Pamela exclaimed, walking in between the four of them, "She…" She pointed at Phoebe, "Is pissed at you for something," She addressed Brennan, "I don't know what it is, and frankly, I don't give a crap. So let's put the tension under the guillotine and make tracks, because I have myself a 17th Century smack down to dole out. Kapeesh?"

"Pam!" The two Charmed Ones yelled in unison, aghast at their niece's direct attitude towards such a delicate subject. Even Leo and Brennan seemed to be surprised at Pamela's forwardness.

"Ugh, let's just go before she picks up steam." Piper groaned, roughly taking her niece by the elbow and pinching the skin slightly, making Pamela yelp in pain, "Oh, did that hurt? Good."

The five of them clustered together, Phoebe nervously placed her hand in Brennan's, who gave it a reassuring squeeze, one that was not returned. The Charmed One's eyes began to get glassy before they were all swept up in a cloud of orbs, traveling to their next destination.

* * *

The family reappeared within a swirl of bright lights, instantly look around at their surroundings. From what they could tell, it had certainly been closed down quickly, as there were dusty red pieces of clay pots smashed all over the floor, along with a scratchy humming sound that sounded like a generator. The large skylight was obscuring the sun with the dirt on its surface, only the odd ray coming through a broken piece of glass. Pamela stepped forward and raised a skeptical eyebrow at the place.

"Wow, I think we just found where good taste goes to die…" She grimaced, picking up a chipped ceramic model, of what looking like the head of a screaming dragon. "Let's just find the bodysnatching bitch and get outta here."

"What a charming name…" A voice identical to Pamela's said smugly. Prudence walked out casually from behind a tall tower of shipping pallets, smirking and clutching to the Book of Shadows that was under her arm.

"Glad you like it." Pamela stepped forward, almost eager for a confrontation, "But name calling is so juvenile, how about we settle this?"

"Man, this is so weird…" Brennan murmured, referring to the fact that it seemed that two Pamelas were facing off to each other, but they all knew that was far from the truth.

The two witches stood, staring each other down before Prudence carefully set the Book of Shadows on the floor. Pamela took her chance instantly; her chin drooped to her chest as energy rippled from her body releasing itself in the form of an astral pulse. A ghost like apparition flew towards Prudence, crashing against her and dispersing into blue wisps of light before returning Pamela to consciousness. She tightened her fists in anger when she saw that her destructive assault had only succeeded in making her past life stumble and groan in annoyance.

"You're powerful. Just like myself, that's where your strength lies, within my magicks and-,"

"My God! I was told how preachy you are, but you really do _never_ shut up!" Pamela cut her off furiously, her head hitting her chest again as she threw her spirit from her body again. This time, Prudence was prepared, as her head fell in the same fashion and red energy tore from her body.

"Hit the deck!" Piper screamed, ducking as the two spirits collided, causing a shockwave to spread throughout the warehouse. It smashed every piece of pottery as the metal machinery crumpled under the strain of the magical tussle happening in the centre of the building. The two spirits circled their bodies before flying at each other again, crashing into each other just like the before.

"Piper!" Phoebe yelled, pulling a spell out of her pocket that was meant to put Prudence's spirit back into Pamela's body. Piper frowned a little before noticing the piece of paper in her sister's hand and two immediately began to chant, "Two now stand where only one belong, unite them now and right this wrong!"

As the spell was finished, the astral pulses collided once more, but this time, there where a series of flashes along with a strong shockwave that sent the Charmed One and their spouses to the ground. Light continued to flash harshly before an ominous rumble shook the factory to its foundations.

Piper took her hand away from her eyes, gasping at what she saw. Both girls that had been in the fight were now lying on the ground, slumped in odd positions with their hair splayed across their lifeless faces. The eldest Charmed One let out a groan as she flopped back to the floor in frustration, clearly not wanting to deal with this.

* * *

"What the hell…?" Pamela murmured to herself, looking around at her new surroundings with confusion and a hint of awe and amazement.

It was the most breathtaking piece of scenery that she had ever seen in her life. She stood on the pebbly shore of a completely still lake that almost looked like an endless sheet of perfect glass. The rising sun was creeping up the side of the large hill that was on the horizon. It was a wash of reds, oranges, greens, showing that the hill was covered in trees that were just in bloom. There was forest just behind her, providing perfect seclusion for anyone on the shore.

"Witchcraft gone wrong." Pamela jumped as she turned around, seeing Prudence walk towards her with a thunderous expression, gritting her teeth and moving towards her with narrowed eyes. Instantly, Pamela threw a punch at her past life's face, only for her fist to go right through her head and making the witch stumble. "Don't waste your spirit's energy." Prudence sighed, "Fool…"

Pamela threw a heated glare, "Is there any reason you brought us here?"

"Ha! You think I'm to blame this? No, that would be your aunts and their foolish intentions to put us back together. Their magic must have counteracted badly when our spirits collided." She explained calmly, "I'm sure the spell will play out."

"So we're supposed to just sit by this lake and wait patiently?"

Prudence turned around, giving her present life a smile, "Can you really think of a better place…?" She asked rhetorically in awe, spreading her arms wide as if she was trying to catch the magic that seemed to be thick in the air.

There was a rustling in the trees behind them, both witches turned on her heels. Pamela gasped when she saw a girl that looked exactly like come out of the forest, wearing nothing but a large cotton shirt that went down to her knees. She didn't even wince as her feet pressed against the rougher pebbles, making her way to the edge of the lake.

"Oh my God!" Pamela spun on her heel to shield her eyes as the girl casually threw off the cotton shirt, leaving her bare body to brave the light breeze that blew by, "Is that me?" She asked, horrified as she peaked between two fingers at Prudence, who had also turned her head slightly.

"No, it's me."

* * *

Brennan laid Prudence's limp form in the armchair of the Manor living room while Pamela had been set down on the sofa. The mutant sighed, putting Prudence's arm back on the arm of the chair as it flopped off the side. "Any idea what happened?" He asked, joining Piper on the sofa as she looked through the recently retrieved Book of Shadows.

She sighed, flipping past more pages, "I don't know." The eldest Halliwell admitted, "I mean, I don't understand how the spell backfired, it should have put the two of them back together and… I don't know whether we just banished them or-,"

She was interrupted by echoed yelps coming from cloud of orbs that was descending on the room. The two of them watched as the haze of lights finally formed into a struggling Paige, who was being held by the shoulder by Leo. The witchlighter shook out of her brother in law's grasp, scowling at him and going back to rearranging the large white t-shirt was wearing.

"I barely had this thing over my head! What did you think you were doing?" She exclaimed.

"You said you were ready to go!" Leo argued back, shrugging as if he had done nothing wrong.

Paige frowned, "Yeah, but I was expecting you to wait a few _seconds_, not grab me and orb as soon as the words were out of my mouth. Jeez, I'm perfectly capable of orbing myself across town…"

"But you're not perfectly capable of answering your cell." Piper butted in, raising an eyebrow and waving her own cell phone at her little sister, "Where the hell have you been?"

"I was indisposed." Paige snapped, "Although I'm sure your husband will tell you the details of what he saw when he orbed into my bedroom, unannounced."

"Knock it off!" Piper suddenly injected, "Can we get back to present problem, please?" She asked, gesturing to the two bodies of the witches that were splayed across the furniture of the living room.

"What happened? Who's the twin?" Paige asked, sitting in the only free chair and looking at Prudence's body.

"Prue." Leo explained quickly, "The Nameless One extracted her from Pamela's body to get the book out of the house. This is the result." He sighed, his eyes darting between the two unconscious witches as Paige raised a skeptical eyebrow at her niece on the sofa, standing up and brushing the t-shirt slightly.

"Got them." Phoebe announced as she reached the foot of the staircase, carrying a wooden box and walking towards the slumped Prudence in the armchair. She opened the box, revealing five thick black rocks. Phoebe took one, setting it on the floor and watching as a blood red glow passed over it. She repeated this action until the five crystals hummed with an eerie tone, snakes of crimson light extending from them and meeting the middle of the pentagram, making an impenetrable force field around the 17th Century witch.

"What are those?" Brennan asked, "They look a little… evil."

Phoebe shot him a glare, "Dark matter." She replied, "Our counterparts gave them to us when we saved their world, I thought we could use the extra boost of power just in case Prudence wakes up."

"How do you know that she's going to? I mean, they could be-,"

"They can't be dead." Leo suddenly interrupted, "Whatever happened when the spell was cast, it affected both of them. Prudence, no matter how corporeal she is, is still a spirit, if we had killed her spirit then her body would have faded away, and since her body's still here, it's safe to say that both she and Pam are alive."

"So you think that you just banished them? Where to?" Paige asked, just as perplexed as the rest of them.

Piper sighed, holding up her hands in defeat and shrugging, "How long is a piece of string?" She replied darkly, making them all realize that the witches' spirits could really have been anywhere.

* * *

"Do you always take this long to have a shower?" Pamela said in disbelieve, turning back around when she realized that the Prudence bathing in the lake had her back to her and was submerged until the water was around her abdomen.

"I beg your pardon?" The Prudence sitting on a rock next to her asked, frowning at her present life's use of words.

The witch rolled her eyes, "Never mind…"

There was a rustling in the trees, Pamela turned her head and gasped with rage when she saw a man appear out of the foliage. From what she could tell, the man probably worked in the forest, as his broad shoulders and muscular arms suggested that he spent his days carrying tree trunks. Messy red hair covered his eyes partially, but it still didn't hide the look of mischief as he slowly crept up on the witch in the lake.

"Oh my God… Is he spying on us… you? Pervert." Pamela growled.

She expected her past life to reply to her with an equally angry comment, but instead, Prudence's cheeks began to redden as her mouth formed a smile that could only be made after thinking of such a good memory, "He is. Although, to me, it is perfectly acceptable." She suppressed a giddy laugh as she bowed her head.

"Did you just… giggle?" Pamela whispered in disbelief, before gasping as the redheaded man began to strip off too, as Prudence remained oblivious in the lake, dipping her head in the water and soaking her hair. The present life witch frowned before raising an eyebrow. "Wow, nice." She commented.

At this, Prudence grimaced and turned to her, "I don't think it is right for you to make comments like that about your grandfather of many generations ago."

Pamela's eyes widened as all colour drained from her face, she swirled around, instantly covering her entire face with her hands, "Oh God! This is _so_ wrong!" She exclaimed into her palms, "Just tell me when it's over!"

The witch cringed as she heard giggling and roars of laughter, along with the splashing of water. Just what were they witnessing? Was this how Charlotte Warren had been conceived? A cringe spread across her face as she tried to drown out the noise of the two lovers in the lake, before she felt pressure build in her ears and nausea washed over her. Pamela brought her hands away from her face, frowning at what she now saw.

Instead of the lake, they two spirits now seemed to be in a small cottage. The walls were made of a dusty cobble; it looked so strong that Pamela suspected that magic had had a hand in their creation. Wooden beams were sitting on the cobble above them, obviously to support the hay roof, which seemed to be extremely thick, as the cold winter breeze that was blowing through in the window seemed to only be coming through the window, as no drafts were coming from the ceiling.

The witch shivered, "Ugh… Okay, we're spirits right now, why do we still feel the breeze?"

Prudence folded her arms, trying to mask her shivers with this knowledgeable stance, "We're ghosts, not spirits, there is a difference." She looked around the cottage, "Spirits move on other planes, ghosts are stuck between two planes, never being able to move on. The wind is a spiritual being; therefore we can still feel it in our incorporeal forms." The past life then walked across to the roaring fire that was underneath the shoddy looking mantelpiece, "As is fire." She said, holding out her hands and reveling in the heat, "Come, warm up here before my past self and James enter, you might as well have your full attention if you're going to be seeing such crucial parts of your history."

"James?"

Prudence's eyes reflected the flames perfectly as tears of fury welled up, "My lover. My soulmate…" She answered just above a whisper, before turning her attention to the door that had just opened, letting in a fresh breeze and making Pamela wince from the cold.

Prudence and same redheaded man from the previous memory entered the croft. James was holding a small baby close to his body, obviously trying to keep her warm from the cold outside. The two of them instantly went for the fire, sitting down on the wooden floor and setting down the baby, who Pamela assumed to be Charlotte Warren., on a thick looking blanket that seemed to be made of sheep's wool.

"We lived out of civilization's reach. It may have just been the two of us, but we were happy beyond our wildest dreams. James, Charlotte, and myself, we…" She let out a sigh as a tear trickled down her cheek, "We were a family…" Prudence bowed her head, wiping her cheek defiantly and looking back up, "It was frowned upon where we lived to bear a child at such a young age, but I never regret my decision to keep Charlotte." She turned to Pamela, "She is the reason you and your family are here after all."

Pamela watched the happy family sitting on the floor. On the outside, people probably thought they were poor, only having one medium sized piece of furniture to sit on, along with a worn looking bed and a chipped crib next to it, but she knew that none of these things mattered to the three. They had each other, that was enough.

"So, what made you reincarnate yourself in my body?" Pamela asked, knowing that she was treading dangerously on something extremely delicate.

The two of them looked around. The winter sun was beginning to fade away rapidly, along with the three people on the floor, who seemed to just disappear. The croft had become a dark, cold and ominous place within a few seconds; one stream of moonlight barely illuminated the area as the temperature dropped rapidly.

"I can't watch…" Prudence whispered shakily, turning her head away so that her hair fell down across her face. Droplets of moisture appeared on the floor as tears fell from her face. Pamela felt strangely guilty that she couldn't console her past life, and that she was only able to watch the event that had turned her into the raging, vengeful spirit she had become.

The brittle wooden door was thrown open as two dark figures stumbled in. One was supporting the other as they walked in. the sliver of moonlight lit up their faces, Prudence was supporting James, both were covered in the various bleeding welts and covered in dirt, but the most alarming thing was the hole that seemed to be gouged into James's chest.

The witch lay her lover down on the bed, kneeling down and stroking red hair from his forehead in a loving way, angry tears sprouting from her eyes as she quickly turned her attention to the wound. Prudence grabbed the bed sheet, ripping a strip off and pressing it against the wound, but James used his diminishing strength to push her hand away, taking it in his own weakly.

"Is… Charlotte… safe…?" He whispered out, coughing painfully and making Prudence scrunch up her eyes, it hurt to see her lover in so much pain.

She pursed her lips, nodding slowly, "She's in the care of a powerful sorceress… thousands of leagues from here. You need to… You need to rest." The witch ordered, bringing the blanket up around his chest, blooding seeping through instantly and staining the sheet.

"My…. Time… has come…" He whispered out, barely audible. The man raised his free hand, caressing Prudence's cheek and wiping her tears. The shouts of men could be heard getting closer to the croft. "I love you…"

She finally opened her eyes, accepting what was happening and tightening her hold on his hand as she spoke, "I love you too…" Prudence whispered back, staring at James's face until the light faded from his eyes and his last breath escaped from his lips.

Prudence gently put her hand on his forehead, closing his eyes and placing a kiss on his rapidly cooling lips as she stood up, pulling the sheet entirely over his body before laying a bloody hand across her mouth and beginning to bawl loudly.

Three strong looking men suddenly burst through the doorway, immediately seeing Prudence and running towards her. She didn't even bother putting up a fight as they grabbed her by the arms, pulling her towards the door and not even bothering about the body on the bed. The witch gave one last longing look at her deceased love, before disappearing out the door.

Pamela turned, preparing to console her past life after what they had just witnessed, but to her surprise, Prudence was gone. She turned around to see her weeping at the bedside, her body shaking from the force of sobbing. The present witch began to walk to Prudence, but she immediately stopped when, from out of nowhere, completely healed, James knelt down beside his love and wrapped his arms around her.

Prudence looked up in disbelief, instantly throwing her arms around him in and weeping softly into his chest before pulling away, unable to keep the smile off her face as she beamed at him, touching his warm cheek lovingly before her eyes darted to the corpse on the bed, "But… how?"

"I think he's your escort out of limbo…" Pamela answered with a smile, "You came to terms with your grief, and it's time to finally move on, to enjoy your afterlife…" She continued, bowing her head as she realized that, what Prudence had with James, wasn't what she had with Zach.

Prudence walked towards her present life, "Since James was able to hug me, I am sure that I will be able to transfer what I extracted from the Book of Shadows, to you." She held out her palm, "Give me your hand."

Pamela gave her a wary look, before placing her palm in hers, "I had a feeling the rules had changed when you put your hands on the bed. I guess the spell was linked to-," She was cut off as she suddenly gasped for air, her eyes flickering. Pamela stayed in this trance before a few seconds, before gasping again, blinking as she tried to orient herself again.

"That should be all you need to know." Prudence smiled, turning away from her and walking back into James's arms, "Thank your aunts for their spell, it's given me more freedom than I could possibly imagine…"

"You're welcome." Pamela replied, giving the couple a small wave, wiggling her fingers on her raised hand as the two of them faded peacefully into the afterlife.

* * *

Paige sighed as she placed the book back on it's altar in the attic, running her hand across the cover before looking up at her oldest sister, who was currently spinning the garnet scrying crystal over a map of the Solar System and of the world. The witchlighter frowned, walking towards Piper and putting her hands on her hips.

"I doubt Pam's spirit is on Jupiter." Paige said skeptically, raising an eyebrow as Piper gave her a heated glare.

She sighed and stood up, placing the crystal on the table, "Hey, we have no idea where we banished them to; I might as well try to cover all our bases." The eldest said in her defense, before a loud shattering noise coming from downstairs alerted them, "Oh no…"

Orbs began to come through the floor as Leo transported himself from the ground the floor, his cheek had a small cut on it and he seemed out of breath, "It's him!" He shouted, "Phoebe and Brennan are barely holding him off!"

Piper and Paige exchanged fearful looks, "Let's go!" The youngest suddenly blurted out, grabbing her sister's hand transporting them to the battle in a swirl of white and blue orbs. Leo followed suit, disappeared through the floor again to join the fight.

There was a flash of light in the attic, revealing Katrina clad in a black cloak as the blaze faded. She pulled down the hood, her eyes narrowing at the Book of Shadows as she stepped towards it, pleased to see that the shield wasn't raised. The Seer raised her hands, smoke began to rise from them as she activated one of her powers, her palms glowing red hot as she walked towards the book with a mincing glint in her eyes.

* * *

Phoebe wiped the blood from her lip as she stared into the Nameless One's eyes. He leered at her, conjuring a fireball in his open hand and looking at the Charmed One lying in the debris of a small wooden table in the parlour. The witch put her arm up in a feeble attempt to protect herself.

"Tell me where the witch is, and I might spare you." He threatened.

The middle Halliwell glanced past him, seeing Brennan come around, groaning as he raised his hand to his bleeding head. She could only think of one thing that would give them all enough time as orbs began to form in the living room.

"You have to get through us to get to her…" Phoebe spat, staring into eyes with pure hatred as Paige, Piper and Leo formed just in time to witness a fireball being thrown at their sister. The middle Charmed One let out a scream as the fireball hit her chest; she blew up in a shower of orange sparks, leaving nothing.

"NO!" Brennan bellowed, wincing in pain as he attempted to stop the bleeding on his temple. Paige and Piper stood stationary, completely stunned by what they had just seen.

The Nameless One turned towards the remaining sisters, smirking and conjuring a flaming sphere in each palm, bouncing them, "Well, she was easy to take down, who wants to go next?"

They were all interrupted by a low buzzing sound breaking the silence. The demon frowned in confusion turning around slowly to see a swarm of swirling particles zipping through the air before it flew towards him, crashing into the evil being's chest and sending him to the floor. The molecules spun around on the spot like a tornado, before forming Phoebe, who was smirking to herself.

"It's a good thing I channeled your powers before you threw that fireball, I would be dead now if I hadn't." She said cockily to herself as the demon got back to his feet, levitating to a standing position with a look of thunderous murder on his face.

"How dare you!" He spat, a ring of fire circling around his wrist as he prepared to throw a plume of flames at the Charmed One.

Phoebe jumped into the air, levitating and beginning to rapidly pound her feet into the Nameless One's chest. She pushed him back a few feet, until her eyes widened as she fell the floor abruptly, extremely confused as to why her power had suddenly cut out.

"I'm gone for a few hours and this is what happens?"

Everyone spun around to see Pamela standing in the archway with a stern look on her face. She stepped forwards, oozing confidence. There was something different about her now, something that made the demon fear her in some way. The witch raised an eyebrow looking around the room before setting her eyes on the Nameless One.

"Listen… Satanos." She addressed him, making his eyes widened as she used his real name, "The little birdy's filled me quite a lot. You're up against five witches and an Elder right now, so I suggest you scamper until _we_ come looking, okay?"

Satanos gave her a look. He couldn't risk that she knew anything else, but she could be bluffing. His brow creased, trying to read Pamela to see if she was lying, before he wisely flamed out, leaving the family completely in awe at the teen's sudden burst of knowledge.

She held up her hands, "Questions later, but I would like to put all this new stuff…" She tapped her temple, "Back into the book, where it belongs." The witch ordered, quickly kneeling down to help Brennan to his feet before climbing the stairs towards the attic.

Piper finally snapped out of the trance she had been in since Phoebe had been hit with the fireball, "Hold it, missy! You aren't getting away that easily! Hey!" She hollered, climbing up the stairs to be quickly followed by Paige and Leo, who were also curious about how Pamela had acquired her new knowledge.

Phoebe walked towards her husband, giving him a sympathetic smile as she tilted his head slightly, inspecting the gash on his temple and wincing as she thought of how painful it must be, "Are you okay?"

He smiled slightly, "I'm surprised you even still care after-,"

She put a finger to his lips, silencing him quickly before kissing him delicately. Phoebe looked into his eyes, resting her hand on his shoulders, "As much as I don't want you to go to some third world country and leave me and Connor, but…" She looked up, "I have to accept that there are people that need you more."

"AH!" Piper's scream suddenly tore through the air, cutting off Brennan as he was about to answer her. Instantly suspecting another demon attack the two ran upstairs to the attic, ready to help destroy whatever was attacking.

* * *

All of them stared in disbelieve at the altar. The only thing that sat on its perch now, was a large piece of black charcoal. Pamela took a step towards the Book of Shadows, wincing as the burnt out tome cracked through the centre. Every page seemed to be burnt to a cinder, a small lick of flame remaining within the middle of the triquetra before dissipating in a flicker of smoke.

Piper took a cautious step towards it, before a crumbling sound was heard. The blackened book began to crack as the charcoal like substance fell apart. Phoebe put her hands over her mouth as the book finally crumbled into a pile of black ash. As it happened, the Charmed Ones felt something strange within their beings as their powers crumbled with the Book of Shadows, leaving them with nothing.

* * *

Okay! The3 part finale will be underway next chapter! Get ready everyone! And there will be more info about Brennan's new job in the next chapter!


	37. Reborn 1

Princess Pinky – Well, she knew that Connor would be safe with Brennan, and she didn't want to disturb or frighten her son by taking him out of the house at such an early hour. And the way I see it, it's only the Charmed Ones that are connected to the book, as their powers are not just genetic. Every other Halliwell's magic is completely genetic and not connected to the book and therefore it's only the Charmed Ones that lost their powers, and Phoebe didn't have any of her mutant powers restored before the book was destroyed, so she's powerless too! Thanks for reviewing! They're always a pleasure to read!

Prince Halliwell – Yeah, Pamela passed the knowledge that she had hidden in the book years ago. I'm glad you liked all of it and here's the finale! I hope you enjoy just as much as the "A Power Divided" finale. Thanks for reviewing.

Fanmania – I know… :( But there's a sequel! They'll be more info in the final chapter of this story. Thanks for reviewing.

ColePhoebe4eva – Lol, I thought that would be a great twist for her to be blown up. Thanks for the review!

Chyp – Thanks.

Wyatt Halliwell – Read the reply to Princess Pinky to get an explanation on the powers. I deleted the other fic because I didn't have time to maintain it.

Ravenix – Yeah, they're gonna be looking into different brands of magic since they don't have their powers, I'm glad you liked it all! Thanks for the review!

**Reborn (1)**

Andy cradled a sleeping Lorna gently in his arms as the infant reached her arm out in her sleep. He held her close to his chest, keeping the nine month old child warm and kissing her forehead delicately. The mortal found it strange that he felt more connected to a sleeping Lorna than to all the other kids, there was just something easier about the relationship with a baby.

The darkness of the large nursery was taken away by the light coming from a large cloud of orbs forming in the air. Andy watched as they slowly began to form the Halliwells, along with Leo and Brennan as they reappeared in the room.

The former whitelighter raised a finger to his lips, indicating to them to stay quiet before gesturing to the sleeping children in the variously sized beds. He rose to his feet slowly, putting the baby redhead into the crib next to the big comfortable armchair he had been sitting in moments ago.

All of them walked out into the hallway. Andy closed the door behind him gently before turning to the six urgent looking faces that surrounded him. He shrugged, "What's the problem?"

Paige began to walk down the hallway, towards the large oak doors of the Great Hall, "Problem doesn't even begin to describe what has happened." She snapped, her family following after her, "Aidan!" The witchlighter shouted into the air, trying to summon her boyfriend.

"Hey, you're not as bad off as us!" Piper snapped, following her younger sister, "At least you still have your whitelighter powers. Me and Phoebe have nothing right now." She pointed out as they entered the large area, going towards the sofa "Okay, I need to sit down… I'm feeling a little-,"

"Weak?" Phoebe finished scratching the back of her head as her eyes glazed over, "Yeah, it sorta hit me back at the Manor. It must be something about our powers being completely destroyed." She scowled, going to join her older sister on the large couch.

Paige rubbed her forehead as she walked towards the sofa, sitting down next to Piper and staring up at the rest of her family, "Yeah, I'm feeling it too… What do you think it is?"

"Well, being a witch comes with more than the powers, it changes you. Witches are stronger, faster, and naturally have better reflexes and a higher pain threshold than humans. I guess the comedown is hitting you guys pretty hard." Leo explained, giving the three of them a sympathetic look.

Pamela raised an eyebrow, "Wow, witches kick ass."

"Yeah, tell me about it… My head hurts." Phoebe groaned, "Wait, we've lost our powers before and we've never felt like this, what's different this time?"

"Probably because we've not lost them this time, they've been destroyed, along with the book…" Paige bowed her head before suddenly looking up, "Aidan! Get here right now!"

"Wait, the book's destroyed?" Andy repeated her in disbelief, his eyes widening with fear as he now understood the intensity of the connection between it and the Charmed Ones. The two really were joined in a strong way.

"Yeah, and they're powerless mortals now…" Brennan replied darkly, looking down at the ground.

"Oh thanks, Brennan." Piper sneered, rolling her eyes and looking around the room as her and her sisters wallowed in their misery.

The mutant cocked his head, "C'mon, you know I didn't mean it like that, but we're…" He gestured around to Leo and Pamela, "…Hardly enough to take down… What was his name again?"

"Satanos." Pamela replied, "What a cliché, huh?"

The sound of running water broke through the air as fluid on the floor rose up before crashing back to the ground and leaving Aidan in its place. He frowned at the solemn faces in the room, "What's wrong?"

Paige sighed as she rose to her feet, pulling Piper up with her as she got up, "We've got a lot of work to do…"

* * *

Satanos flamed into the dark chamber, beginning his stride before the transportation flames had been snuffed. He stormed around the room, trying to figure out how Pamela had known his true name. It had been part of the spell that had created him centuries ago, all knowledge of him was to be immediately wiped away from books, memories, anything that would be able to thwart him was supposed to have been destroyed. He let out a roar, a blazing fireball appearing in his hand before it flew towards the wall, blasting a chunk of the stone into oblivion and leaving a scorch mark.

"Temper, temper…" A taunting voice cooed behind him. It was a voice he recognized instantly. Satanos turned around, his hand glowing with an eerie blue light before a jet of turquoise energy tore from his hand.

Katrina rolled her eyes as the assault hit her chest. She stood watching it hit her body until it fizzled out, leaving the Seer unscathed and with a smile on her face, "Do you really think I would come back here without protecting myself from you first?"

"How dare-,"

"Don't bother with the threats. I'm beyond your powers now." She said darkly, "Feels good to be truthful, the whole 'powerless evil' façade was beginning to annoy me."

The demon narrowed his eyes, "Then why are you here?"

She paced around him, "The Book of Shadows has been destroyed. The Charmed Ones are now weak, powerless mortals relying on the protection of those around them, who you could easily take down…" Katrina whispered in his ear as she stood behind him, "All you need to do is breach the security of Magic School and you will be able to kill them."

He let out a skeptical chuckle, "And I'm supposed to believe you? How do I know that you're not working with the witches to take me down and that this all a ploy?"

"You don't." She answered simply, walking back around so she was facing him, staring right into his soulless eyes, "But as you've seen, you can hold your own against the Charmed Ones is you have to… Whether or not you could take me down is a different story however, but…" She began to walk away, her cloak swishing the dusty ground, "If I am telling truth, you would certainly be a fool to pass up such an opportunity, wouldn't you?"

Satanos began to process this information before scowling at his former ally, "How is it you have this power over me? It is obvious that you've been manipulating me since the start…"

The redhead thought it over her a minute, before grinning, "There's a saying in the Underworld… 'Behind every great Source, there is a greater Seer'. I'll be seeing you later…" She said before a blinding flash tore through the room, making the demon shield his eyes. He brought his arm away from his face, and she was gone.

* * *

Paige scowled as she ripped roughly at the burdock root in her hand. She finally tore large piece off, raising it above the copper pot in front of her and throwing it in forcibly. A mushroom cloud of smoke flew from the cauldron, along with a shockwave that sent the witchlighter across the potion lab, landing on her butt as she hit the floor. She smacked the floor with her feet in annoyance, "Aw… Damn!"

Phoebe looked at the book Paige had been working from, before shaking her head, "That probably happened because you used about ten times more burdock root than you were supposed to."

"Hey, we need all the power we get, so what if I double the recipe?" The youngest Charmed One argued as she got to her feet.

Piper looked up from the book she was working on as she dropped a scarab horn into the pot she was standing at, "Paige, this isn't baking. This is magic, it needs to be exact or it won't work, you've just wasted all the ingredients you used in that potion." She went back to her potion, "C'mon now, concentrate. You're the best at this out of all three of us,"

She walked back to the table, putting one hand on the wooden surface and one on her hip, "I know, I'm sorry, it's just… feeling all a little pointless, you know?"

Phoebe shrugged as she picked up the jar of powdered dragon scale. She poured the blue-green dust into the mixture in front of her until it went from a bright orange colour to a deep purple, smoke began to rise from the pot, "Well, potions are the only thing we can do right now. What do you suggest we do?"

Paige sighed, "I don't know, but I do know that textbook magic is not going to be enough on this one, and all the notes for my experimental potions were in the Book of Shadows…" She bowed her head, "And we don't have time for me to start the long process of trail and error."

"Any chance you can just work from memory?" The eldest Halliwell asked hopefully.

She shook her head, "No, I…" Paige's eyes suddenly glazed over as a grin struck across her face, "… Just had the best idea! Thanks Pipes!" She beamed, enthused with whatever idea had crossed her mind. "Aidan!" She called as she left the room, still with a smile on her face.

A knock on the door made the remaining witches look up. Brennan was standing there with a nervous expression on his face, his fist still up on the door where he had knocked. Phoebe and Piper shared a look, making the eldest Charmed One lift her pot and head for the door.

"I'll just take this to Pam to get it cooled off and bottled…" She said, glancing at her brother in law as she passed, "I'll leave you two to… talk." The witch left with a suggestive note, before hollering for her niece as she walked down the hallway.

"So…" Brennan began, walking into the lab slowly, "I saw Paige on my way here, she seemed pretty pleased with something."

Phoebe raised an eyebrow at this attempt to break the ice, "Oh, yeah, she had some epiphany that she's not sharing. What can I do for you?" She asked with a calm tone, going back to adding ingredients to her potion.

"I just thought we could… talk about… you know." He stuttered, making his wife smile slightly at his nerves.

"When do you leave?" Phoebe suddenly dived in, not being able to stand the awkwardness of the company she was in right now.

Brennan stayed silent for a few moments, gripping the edge of the table so hard that his knuckles were white, "A month… The day after Pam's graduation…" He replied softly, "But that's just a trial run, I'll be back in two weeks, if I don't think it's for me, then I can come back and-,"

"Who are you kidding?" Phoebe gave him a sympathetic look, "You know you'll love it… It's not exactly a secret that you sometimes feel a little useless around here. Getting out there, saving lives, it'll give you the purpose you crave."

"My purpose is to look after you and Connor." Brennan replied strongly, "If it wasn't for you guys, I don't know where I would be… and I don't want to leave you alone for months on end and be worrying about you."

She walked around the table to him, "Honey, I'm not completely helpless without you. I don't want you to stay because you feel obliged to… It's a great experience, one of Paige's friends went out there for two years and his entire outlook had changed. He had spent his time treating people, helping to build schools…"

"But I don't want my outlook to change…" He took her hands in his, "I don't want to lose you just because I wasn't here for you. Especially if it's something I can easily avoid."

"I'm not going anywhere…" She whispered, "We have plenty of time to figure things out. I just want you to know that I'm behind you one hundred percent with this. And before you say it…" Phoebe cut him off as he opened his mouth, "Connor and I will be fine. And it's not as if we'll never see you, months fly by so quickly we'll want you to leave the times when you do come back!" She joked, smiling slightly.

He grinned at her, moving closer a little, "And there's nothing to stop you coming out and visiting me… I mean, we're surrounded by so many people that can transport themselves anywhere in a matter of seconds, you might as well take advantage…"

"Exactly." She draped her arms on his shoulders and clasped her hands behind his neck, "See? It's not as bad as we thought…" The witch leaned up, kissing her husband deeply on the lips as her arms locked around his neck. Brennan placed his hands on her sides as he returned the gesture.

They pulled away from each other, the mutant smiled at her, "You're amazing for supporting me through this…" He said, running a hand across her cheek before pulling her into a tight hug.

* * *

Orbs began to light up the dark apartment as Paige and Aidan materialized in the middle of the living room. The witchlighter made a beeline across the room, heading the bookcase that sat behind the recently purchased dining room table, after Paige had destroyed the last one. Aidan cautiously followed her, scanning the apartment and resting a hand on his girlfriend's shoulder.

"Paige, I really don't think we should be here. You're vulnerable right now."

She wasn't listening. Instead, she was fishing around in the bookcase before a triumphant smile spread across her face, "Got it!" Paige announced, pulling out a thick, worn notebook. "Emma gave this to me. It has all the potions she's ever made, including one she was working on for Melinda's illness." The witchlighter explained, "There's also a binding field one she designed for containing powerful agents of magic… It'll be good in a jam."

"You think you'll be able to fight off Satanos with that?" He asked, walking to her side to look inside the notebook, seeing diagrams and complicated instructions that were really only for a skilled potions mistress to look at.

"I don't know, but it's a lot better than the crappy stun potions that Piper and Phoebe are working on. This…" She waved the pad in the air, "Should keep us alive for a little while longer… Shame it didn't work for Emma…"

Aidan sighed as he snaked his arm around her waist, pulling her close and kissing the side of her head, "I'm gonna keep you safe. No matter what…" He whispered.

Paige snuggled into his chest, almost hugging the notebook in her hands as it felt like the last thing connected to her fallen friend. "It's hard to believe that things can change so much in two years… I mean, I never saw myself with kids, let alone being with someone to have kids with! Emma was really the only thing…"

He put his other arm around her, enveloping her in a tight bear hug, "Well, you've got both. And I know that she's not here anymore, but she's always around… watching over us… Lorna… everyone…" He pulled away, running a hand down her cheek, "And I'm here."

She smiled at him, "I know…"

* * *

Pamela put the pink fluid filled vial into the velvet satchel around her waist. She quickly looked into the pouch, making sure she had enough room for more potions if need be. The witch turned to Leo, folding her arms at the Elder, who had his eyes closed. "Just what are you trying to do?" She asked skeptically with a raised eyebrow.

He opened his eyes, showing slight annoyance, "I'm seeing if I can sense Satanos."

"Why would you be able to?"

"Because his powers distort…" Leo explained, shaking his head at Pamela's confused expression, "It's hard to explain, but just trust me. Angelic beings can sense stuff like that,"

"Apparently not, since you've been standing like that for ten minutes." Pamela retorted sassily, bouncing on the balls of her feet a little and looking around the room to pretend as if she had never said anything.

Before Leo could reply, the rest of the family walked into the hall, each of them armed with a satchel on their waists, in their hands, or just had potions in their pockets. Paige went over to the table behind her niece, picking up some of the many potions that were still there.

"Were Emma's notes any help?" Leo asked his wife as Phoebe and Paige picked up some more potions.

The eldest Charmed One sighed, "Only time will tell…"

"How about I tell you instead?"

All of them spun on their heels to see who had spoken. Panic pounded in Paige's chest as she came face to face with the demon that had taken her best friend's life just six months ago. Satanos smirked at the obvious terror he was causing as he conjured a fireball in his palm, preparing to fire at whoever was closest to him.

Aidan and Brennan where quick off the mark. The mutant swirled his wrists, summoning as much voltage as he could before hurling out his hands, releasing two powerful tesla coils at the demon. The lightning blasted him in the chest, tensing every muscle in Satanos's body and making him writhe in pain.

Aidan raised his arm above him, balling his hand into a fist before opening it slowly. A sharp piece of ice seemed to be growing above his palm. The glowing blue icicle grew until it seemed to be as big as the elemental himself. Aidan made a small pushing gesture with two of fingers and sent the icicle hurtling towards its target. The sharp object pierced the demon's shoulder, ripping apart the leather jacket as it came out the back.

Satanos smirked, "Heh… Is that the best you have to offer?" He taunted. The icicle in his shoulder began to secrete steam as it melted, leaving nothing but a gaping hole that soon reconstituted, leaving no evidence that there had ever been any damage. The demon threw out his arms, hot blue streams of light flew from each palm, striking Brennan and Aidan in the chest and throwing them in opposite directions "So, I've been hearing rumours…" He began to walk towards the Charmed Ones, who were behind everyone else.

A dagger zipped through the air, landing in the small of the demon's back. A thick black fluid began to flow from the wound. Satanos growled at himself, yanking the athame out of his back and turning round to face his attacker.

Andy stood in the archway of the Great Hall, armed with another dagger in his hand. He let out a small roar as he threw it, watching it spin through the air before Satanos made a turning gesture at it. Time seemed to speed up around the dagger, causing the iron blade to rust and corrode, turning into dust and falling to the floor mere inches in front of its target's face.

"Annoying mortal…" He growled, hurling a recently conjured fireball in Andy's direction. The flaming sphere struck the man in the shoulder, making him spin as he was launched into the air, landing into a large trophy cabinet at the end of the corridor. Blood was seeping from his ear as glass reigned down on him.

"No!" Pamela cried out desperately, beginning to run towards the hallway before a powerful telekinetic force threw her back and into the air. She fell to the marble floor, sliding across the smooth surface and hit her head off a large pillar made of the same material. The witch's eyes scanned her immediate area before her head flopped to the floor lifelessly, falling unconscious.

Leo stood, completely torn. Andy would die if he wasn't healed, but his wife and his two sisters in law would be killed for sure if he didn't help them. He suddenly remembered that Paige would be able to orb out of here whenever she wanted, which made Andy the obvious choice to go to.

Phoebe took a courageous step forward, swinging a punch at the demon's face and immediately gasping in great pain as she did, wincing as she put a hand around her fist. Satanos smirked at the witch's now cowering form.

"Looks like you've lost your power to punch out demons too…" He smirked cockily, creating a fireball and preparing to shove it into her chest to finish her off, "Can't channel anything anymore, can you?"

The middle Charmed One looked up in between the ragged breathes she was still taking, clutching her fist delicately. She backed away, rejoining her sister who held onto her upper arms to make sure she didn't run out again. He threw the fireball, and, at the last minute, Paige concentrated hard and enveloped her and her sisters in a cloud of orbs, making the attack fly through them as they dematerialized, hitting a large table and splitting it in half roughly.

* * *

The Charmed Ones reappeared in a swirl of bright lights in the Manor parlour. Phoebe sucked in air between her teeth as she doubled over again from the pain in her fist, which was now shooting up her arm violently. Piper and Paige guided her to the sofa, where she took her hand away from her balled palm, wincing as she tried to open out her fist.

"When I hit him…" She breathed, "It felt as if every bone in my hand shattered…"

The youngest Charmed One rolled her eyes, "Guess we really have taken our powers for granted up until this point, haven't we?"

Piper shot her a warning glare for her negative comment, "It'll be okay, and we'll fix it, somehow."

As soon as the words came out of her mouth, the room began to slowly spin around the three of them. Paige frowned, helping Phoebe up from the rapidly dissolving sofa as they were transported somewhere. The room continued to spin until it all went black, no trace of the Manor was left, yet there was still a moving sensation. Slowly, a new area began to spin into focus, the Charmed Ones had to shield their eyes from the bright white that was appearing, it was everywhere. The spinning sensation ceased, and when the three brought their hands away from their eyes, they gasped in awe at what now surrounded them.

They were in a large white room; the walls were almost undistinguishable from the floor as all could be seen was white, apart from the roof, which seemed to fade away the higher at went up, revealing a beautiful starlit sky above them. Piper and Paige marveled at the sight around them, while Phoebe merely stayed neutral, she had seen it all before. The three of them walked forward, still spinning on their feet to look at every square inch of the area.

"Where are we?" Paige finally spoke her arm suddenly extending upwards as she pointed at something, "A shooting star!" She exclaimed, watching a trail of light streak across the sky for a brief moment before it disappeared.

"Whoa… I'm feeling a little sick." Piper groaned, putting a hand on her stomach as she swayed a little. She looked up from the floor, gasping at who she was standing in front of them, "You guys…"

Phoebe and Paige looked down from the sky to gasp and frown with anger at the sight in front of them. Katrina stood, clad in a white skirt that swished in the warm breeze in the room, accompanied by a simple white tank top. Her hair was tied back into a ponytail as she smirked at the Charmed Ones.

"Sorry about that." Katrina began to explain, "Some people find a little rough ascending to this plane, as it's out of the universal loop so to speak…" The Seer finished with a light smile, "Welcome."

* * *

Leo unleashed another destructive barrage of lightning from his palms; it hit Satanos in the chest throwing him across the Great Hall. The demon crashed into the large table at the back of the room, his back hitting the ton of books that lay upon the surface before he fell to the floor through the wreckage.

Pamela groaned as she opened her eyes, her head pounding as she struggled to sit up and lean against the pillar for support. Her vision slowly focused and she saw Satanos rise from the debris of the table he had just been thrown into.

"Is that the best you can do, Elder?" He spat. Leo stood, clearly shaken at the fact that his blast hadn't affected their enemy in the slightest. With a thunderous look, the demon conjured a large ball of deep purple fire in his hand, he squinted at it, causing the sphere to grow in his hand, "You what this is? This is darklighter poison in its purest form…" He taunted before swinging back his arm and throwing the deadly fireball towards the Elder.

Only for it to be blasted apart midway.

Pamela's arm dropped back down once she had blew up the threat, "Leo… get Dad and the kids out of here… now!" She ordered, scrunching up her eyes as she forced herself to her feet, stumbling slightly as she laid a hand on the large marble pillar next to her for support.

"I wouldn't even bother if I were you, squirt." He advised with a menacing tone, "I'm just getting started while, you…" He looked her up and down with a smile, not noticing Aidan regain his feet behind him, "You look as if you can barely stand."

Pamela smiled wryly, "My body may be weakened…" Her head drooped to her chest as blue energy beat from her body, causing an astral pulse to fly from her person and crash into Satanos's chest, where it ricocheted off the demon, flying towards a nearby window and shattering it instantly, "But my soul is still strong…" Pamela finished as she regained conscious, smiling to herself when she saw Brennan get up out of the corner of her eye.

The demon blinked slightly as he regained his footing Pamela's attack, frowning. He had not expected such power from such a weakened witch, it wouldn't last long though, "You think you have the power to stop me? You think those guys…" He turned around, waving his arm at Aidan and Brennan, "Have the power to stop me?" Satanos began to walk towards her, "Well, lemme let you in on a little secret. No one has the power to stop me!"

As soon as he finished his sentence, a massive white sphere of magical energy struck him in his side. It threw him across the floor, making him slide along the marble at a fair speed before he ground to a halt, not noticing the gash in his lip as he stared at his attacker with rage and disbelief.

Prue Halliwell stood at the entrance of the Great Hall, her arms folded neatly across her chest as she returned the demon's glare with just as much rage. She walked forward a little, moving her head so that her raven hair would fall back from her shoulders and go to flowing down her back. "Are you sure about that?" She asked cockily, referring to Satanos's comment before she had attacked.

He grinned manically at her, "Oh look! It's the forth one! Shouldn't you be enjoying a cozy afterlife up there? I mean, when your corpse is rotting in the ground, that's a pretty big indication that you're needed or wanted anymore." The demon spat, rising to his elbows as he tried to get up.

"Why don't you just stay on the floor for the time being?" Prude advised in a commanding tone. Pamela's eyes widened in amazement when the demon seemed to completely stop, his eyes moving around frantically as he realized his limbs had frozen.

"How did you do that?" Brennan asked, not taking his eyes off the paralyzed demon for one second in case he missed something.

Satanos smirked as the parlays began to ware off, "You can't beat me with magic that isn't even yours to begin with."

Prue cocked her head and slightly, "True, but that doesn't mean I don't have some tricks up my sleeve." She opened up her fisted hand, just in time to catch a potion vial that had rolled out the bottom of her sweater sleeve. The deceased witch caught it tightly in her hand, bringing back her arm and throwing it at the recovering demon on the floor. The vial smashed at his feet, the air rippled around Satanos as an unseen dome of energy extended around the demon. The only evidence of magic was the distortion in the air.

Pamela walked towards her mother, still in complete awe of the show of power, "What did you do?" She asked, bewildered at the force field that seemed to be keeping Satanos ensnared and paralyzed.

"Oh, I used one of those potions from that table." Prue answered simply, turning around and gesturing at the table near the entrance of the hall, "I guess it must have been the one that traps him in a binding field."

The teen still stared in disbelief, "I just… How…?"

"C'mon, we better go talk in the other room." The eldest Halliwell sister advised, guiding her daughter towards the hallway where there were many doors that lead to different room. "Well, what are you two waiting for? An invitation? Let's go!" She snapped at Brennan and Aidan, who merely stared at the supposed to be dead witch before following suit.

* * *

"Um… guys, this may be a bad time to tell you that I'm a little scared of heights." Piper said timidly, hugging herself as she around her immediate area that would change every second.

Katrina raised an eyebrow, "Don't worry, we're almost there."

The eldest Charmed One looked around nervously. The white area was only a small spec underneath them as they rose and rose through the endless starry sky. While Phoebe and Paige and had marveled about being so close to such wonders, Piper had spent her time with her eyes closed, frightened that whatever force was pulling them upwards would give out any moment and they would go crashing back down.

"We've arrived." The redhead spoke, making the Halliwell open her eyes, hoping to see some sort of floor underneath their feet. She got her wish when they all seemed to be standing on a massive circular platform, except that it was barely visible. There were ripples in the air, indicating that the platform was there, and as Piper peered closer, she saw that it was actually made up of the sky itself.

"Okay, are you going to explain what you want with us now?" Phoebe asked, going to put her hands on her hips but wincing as her injured hand caused her pain as she went for the simple stance.

Katrina walked towards her, "Don't blame yourself completely for that injury. Satanos's structure is a lot stronger than most demons, even if you had had your powers, your fist would have stung a little for a while." She gently took Phoebe's wrist, passing her hand across the Charmed One's hand and instantly making the bruises go away.

"How'd you do that…?" Phoebe breathed, inspecting her hand for anything that would indicate foul play on the Seer's part.

She cocked her head with a smile, "Hun, I'm just full of surprises. But we're not here to discuss me, we're here to discuss you guys and get you back into the game." Katrina said with a stern tone, clasping her hands in front of her and giving the three women a serious look.

"Wait a minute, back up; you've been our enemy for close to a year, you want to help us? Please say I'm not the only one confused here…" Paige groaned, rubbing her temples and not knowing if she couldn't handle anymore revelations.

"I know it's a lot to process, and if we had more time, I would explain to you. But we don't, so, cliff notes version. I'm good, I going to help you get your powers back, and most of the stuff that you'll witness will be beyond both your powers and comprehension, but you're here not only because you have to be, it's because you're also ready…"

"Ready for what?" Piper asked with a skeptical eyebrow raised.

Katrina smiled at them, "To ascend, to become reborn as even more powerful witches than you ever have been before…"

* * *

"I'm okay." Pamela snapped, swatting away her uncle's hand as went to heal the bump on the back of her head. She stared at her mother, who was leaning against the bookcase of the classroom. None of this was making sense, how was she here?

"Thanks, man." Brennan briefly thanked Aidan as a large cut on the mutant's arm sealed up underneath the blue glow exuding from the elemental's hands. Aidan took his hands away, smiling and going to face Leo.

"Where did you take Andy and the kids?"

Leo sighed before looking upwards, "Up there, it really is the only safe place for them right now and now that they're up there, the Elders can't kick them out without looking bad." He smiled slightly, thinking that would probably be reprimanded for his ways.

"How are you here? Did the Elders send you?" Pamela narrowed her eyes into a steely glare at Prue, who folded her arms as she brought her back off the bookcase, looking down at the ground.

"The Elders don't have a clue that I'm here. I came on my own power." She replied in a matter of fact way, confusing everyone even further.

Pamela gave her a look, "Right, so you've always been able to throw powerful amounts of energy and paralyze people with just an order?" She said sarcastically, "Where'd did you get the power to come here from?"

Prue sighed, pacing back and forth and keeping her eyes on the floor, "Families have strong bonds, and when you add in being witches, the Halliwell bond is stronger than most." She explained, "We saw what was happening, so the Matriarchs imbued me with their magicks and sent me down here to help. It was through the bond we share that they were able to share their strength with me."

"So you've basically got the magical strength of all Halliwell witches?" Brennan asked his sister in law. This had been the first they had met, and although Piper, Phoebe and Paige had been witches much longer than Prue, they still talked like she had been the best.

"Well, all the dead ones… which, with our family history is quite a lot now that I think about it." Prue looked up, swishing her hair out of her eyes with a slight movement of her head, "Besides, with Piper, Phoebe and Paige completely disappearing off the face of the earth, you guys need all the help you can get!"

Aidan frowned, "What do you mean?"

Prue bit her lip, "You mean you guys don't know that they've vanished?"

"No, they orbed out of here. We thought they would have gone to the Manor or something." Pamela explained, looking at Aidan and Leo who both had their eyes closed, "Anything?"

The Elder opened his eyes, shaking his head as his face was etched in worry. Aidan gave her a similar look. "I can't sense Paige anywhere." He replied solemnly, his brow creased in thought as he began to wonder where she was.

"Oh, you mean it's just going to be us?" Satanos taunted as his large form took up most of the doorframe. "Shame too, I was hoping the Charmed Ones would be joining us, along with that knife throwing mortal…" He growled menacingly.

Prue turned to face him, taking a strong stance and gritting her teeth, "Leo, get everyone out of here and find the girls. I'll hold him off." She locked eyes with the demon, "Stay where you are." She ordered firmly, hoping for his body to disobey his mind and freeze on the spot.

Satanos simply waved his hand across the air, voiding the magic and smirking, "You didn't think that little body control thing would work a second time, did you? I've prepared myself for your borrowed powers…" He said with a smirk.

"How about my actual powers?" Prue asked rhetorically before throwing her arm out across her chest and sending the demon flying into a large marble pillar on the corridor wall. She spun her head around, "Go! We're screwed without my sisters!" She barked.

"C'mon, let's go." Leo said, getting his niece and gripping her shoulder tightly as Aidan and Brennan made their way over to the huddle. Pamela gave her mother a fearful look as Prue left the room to face the evil being in the corridor.

"But what about-,"

"She'll be fine, trust me." The Elder cut her off, his face scrunching up into one of concentration as he orbed the four of them out of Magic School, vanishing in a swirl of bright lights as Prue began her battle.

The eldest Halliwell threw out her right arm, a bright flash of energy ignited in her palm before it flew towards the rising Satanos, who had the wind knocked out of him as it hit him in the chest, before crashing through the marble wall and landing askew in another classroom, crushing a few brittle wooden desks on his way down. The smooth, heavy rock bombarded the demon as it came down on him from the damage he had caused on the wall.

The demon returned to his feet quickly, his hair and clothes covered in the dust he had disturbed in his flight. He hurled a large fireball in Prue's direction, who dived to the side and landed in the Great Hall just in time to see the fireball blow up a chunk of the marble wall. Satanos stepped out of the hole he had created, walking into the hall as the witch got onto her feet. He glanced at a table full of potions to the side of room. With a grin, the demon summoned a fireball to his palm, bouncing it in his hand before throwing it towards the table.

Prue could only put her arm up in front of her face as a destructive explosion tore through the room. The books, shelves, tables, everything that could catch fire was instantly incinerated by the horrific blast that was destroying everything in the hall. The witch concentrated as the heat washed over in a matter of seconds, becoming unbearable instantaneously before a white glow began to wash over her body. The shield guarded her from the searing flames before she couldn't be seen within the mass of smoke and fire.

* * *

"Why don't we just start with the basics?" Katrina suggested, staring at the wary faces that were looking at her. The redhead rolled her eyes, "Look, trust me or don't trust me, although if you do the latter you'll wind up dead for sure. It can't hurt to listen to me, right?" The Charmed Ones remained silent, "Oh c'mon! Meet me halfway here!"

Phoebe folded her arms, "If you really are good, you'll give us all the info we need to on Satanos. I mean, what better way to prove yourself to us than to rat out your supposedly former boss?"

The Seer grinned, before turning serious and beginning to pace, "Satanos… Was created to destroy." She began, "I can't really think of a better way to put it. Around five centuries ago, during the time when the old Source was overthrown for the new one, the current Source was desperate so keep his throne. Naturally, he wasn't going to fight himself and get his hands dirty, oh no, he decided he would create a being out of the darkest magicks to protect his place in the Underworld."

"Three guesses for what happened next…" Piper grumbled.

Katrina smirked, "Exactly. Once the Source created Satanos, he realized that he made a creature that could easily overthrow him, instead of aiding his cause. So like all evil beings when they find something stronger than themselves, he sealed his creation away, never to be released."

"Oh please…" Paige droned, moving a strand of hair out of her face casually, "Tell me when the 'and they lived happily ever after' comes up from this crock!"

The redhead looked angered by the witchlighter's comment. She rose her arm, clicking her fingers and instantly disappeared. The three women looked around, confused, before something began to devour the stars at an unbelievable rate, leaving a cold darkness in its wake. It flew over the Charmed Ones, taking away the warmth that had once surrounded them and replacing it with a frigid cold. A high pitched scream tore through the air, reducing the three of them to their knees as they screamed in fear, clutching their ears in vain in an attempt to block out the horrible noise. The darkness was going to swallow them whole…

Suddenly, the scream began to fade away and the darkness started to retreat. The glittering stars faded back into view and the comfortable warmth began to heat them up once again. Katrina reappeared, still with an angry look on her face.

"What… what was that…?" Paige whispered, afraid to get up off her knees.

"That was just a simulation of Satanos's true power, luckily, he's not aware he possesses such a mantle, otherwise you three would have bit the dust way before now. Still think my story's a crock?" She spat, "C'mon, get up, you're the Charmed Ones. You guys are supposed to beat things like that! Not fall to your knees and cry!"

"We have no chance…" Phoebe breathed, taking her hands away from her ears and looking upwards, tears streaking from her eyes, "We can't beat something like that… Even if we did have our powers…"

Katrina rolled her eyes, "I told you he isn't aware that he has that kind of power, but the longer you let him live the more he'll find out about his origins and next time…" She went over and yanked Phoebe roughly to her feet, "It won't just be you three who feel that. It'll be the entire world…"

"But even without him knowing about his true power, we haven't been able to defeat him. I mean, he throws out around like toothpicks in every fight we've ever had against him. We can't beat something like that…" Piper said glumly as she rose to her feet, going to help Paige.

"Okay, maybe I should have gave you the simulation, but-,"

"No, Piper and Phoebe are right. We're screwed…" Paige murmured sadly, holding out her hand for Piper to take it and help her up.

Katrina sighed, rubbing her forehead, "okay, I'm gonna get _so_ busted for doing this, but I don't see any other way to restore your confidence and inner fight, so…" She raised her hand again, clicking her fingers and instantly the Charmed Ones fell to the invisible floor, "You guys better be worth it…" The redhead whispered to herself.

* * *

Piper frowned at her new surroundings. Instead of the starry area that had once been the only thing she could see, the witch was now standing on the steps of the Manor. She looked up, feeling the warm sun against her skin. Piper realized that the sun was just the right temperature, it was… perfect.

"Lorna, sweetie, keep your hands out of the dirt please." A soft toned voice said.

Piper turned slightly and gasped when she saw herself, clad in a large sun hat and gardening gloves. The Piper was on her knees, gently taking a baby redhead's hands out of the soil. It was Lorna.

"Pipew!" Lorna whined, thrashing her legs and protruding a fat lip that began to shake.

She sighed, wiping her sweaty forehead with her arm, "Okay honey, just don't make a mess of Piper's newly planted begonias, okay?"

"Kay!" She replied with a grin, sticking her hands into the dirt again and giggling at the feel of the cool dirt in between her fingers on the hot summer's day. The toddler squinted her eyes slightly and a golden glow spread across the flower buds that Piper had just planted. The plants began to grow outwards and as the glow faded, vibrant red flowers were left in their place.

Piper put her fists on her hips and cocked her head in mock annoyance, "Well, don't you just have green fingers!" She exclaimed, making Lorna raise a muddy hand to her mouth which Piper quickly pulled away gently, "C'mon, let's get cleaned up!"

Piper watched as the gardening version of herself walked across the grass and got into the flight of steps leading up the open door of the Manor. She gasped as the Piper completely walked through her with an older looking Lorna, before something on the sidewalk at the bottom of the steps caught both witches attention.

"Mom! Mom! I went on two wheels!" Chris exclaimed as he cycled up in front of the steps, beaming proudly as he put a foot on the ground to steady himself without stabilizers. "Look!" He shouted, catching Piper's attention again and quickly doing a donut on the sidewalk that made both of them grin.

"That's great!" Both Pipers' said. The incorporeal one blinked a little when she realized that her son couldn't hear her. She was seeing the future, but why?

Her thinking was interrupted by Leo running up behind Chris, clearly out of breath and putting his hands on his knees to keep himself up, "Okay Chris… that was… really… really… good."

"Hear that Chris? Why don't go around the block a couple more times and keep your Dad fit?" Future Piper suggested, smirking suggestively at her husband as he glared at her playfully. "Did Wyatt get to Seth's okay?"

"Huh? Oh… yeah, they're going to that new water park that just opened up." Leo explained, putting a hand on his chest as he took a deep breath, "Didn't Paige say she was going to go there?"

"Yeah, I think it's mostly for Emma's sake though, she just loves the water." Piper explained, jiggling Lorna on her hip and keeping the infant's dirty hands away from her mouth.

"Come on Dad!" Chris urged, putting his feet on the pedals and shakily beginning to cycle off. Leo sighed as he put his hand on his forehead, shielding his eyes from the warm sun before running off after his son, who was already at the end of the street.

Piper turned around to see her future self walk up the steps of Manor. She smiled, in all her life, she had never thought herself as the sort of person who would ever wear gardening clothes. Yet there she had been, wearing a thick apron designed to protect your clothes from dirt, and a large hat that the witch never thought would be able to suit her. But even with these changes, she couldn't keep the smile off her face.

Perhaps the future was worth fighting after all.

* * *

Phoebe smiled as she watched Brennan let Connor score a goal with the soccer ball the three year old had just kicked. The mutant deliberately dived the other way from the way the ball was rolling into the goals that they had set up in the back garden, letting it roll onto the patio behind the grass. Connor's arms immediately flew up into the air in celebration as the ball past his father, shouting happily and grinning to himself as Brennan picked himself up from the ground.

"Wow! That was great buddy!" He said enthusiastically, picking up the small soccer ball and rolling it back out to his son, who stopped it with his hands and ran back a little, before bolting at the ball as fast as he could and kicking it with all his might.

The ball went through Brennan's legs, who groaned loudly and slapped his forehead, "You are just _too_ good at this game, Connor!" He said with a grin as he went to roll the ball back out to his son.

"Uh huh! Toooooo good!" Connor mimicked, raising his arms and holding up his thumbs in approval at his father's comment. His gaze went past his father and towards the back door, "Mommy!" He yelled, running past Brennan and towards a sight that made the incorporeal lose her breath.

"Hey, sweetie! You hungry?" Future Phoebe smiled, holding a basket of bread and a plate of various toppings. She mostly looked the same, except for the slightly abnormal bump in her stomach.

Connor reached up, putting his hand on his mother's stomach and looking up at her face, "How's ma baby brudda?" He asked innocently, making his parents share a knowing look with a smile.

"Oh, what makes you think it's not a baby sister?" Phoebe asked with a higher tone, setting the food down on the wooden table before groaning, "Aw, shoot! I forgot the mayo, I'll be right back," She went to go back into the house, but Brennan grabbed her wrist gently and pulled her towards him.

"Oh no you don't. You go sit down, I'll get it." He ordered, kissing her lovingly on the lips that was eagerly returned with a smile from his wife.

"Mmm… Okay," She submitted, freeing herself of her husband and guiding her son towards the table, sitting down and handing him a piece of bread, "You got any ideas for the baby's name, Connor?" She asked, pushing the plate of toppings towards him so he had some choice.

"Um… Bwuce?" The toddler suggested.

"Besides Batman names," Phoebe said with a grin, tapping his nose lightly with her finger before going back to get a piece of bed. Her head turned as Brennan came out carrying the bottle of mayonnaise, smiling and holding it up in triumph.

"Got it." He announced, sitting at the side of the table that was next to his wife and grabbing a piece of bread.

Phoebe grinned as she loaded her sandwich with large dollops of mayonnaise. She closed the bottle and turned to her husband, catching his lip on a kiss and putting an arm around his neck as he touched her cheek lovingly. The Charmed One suddenly flinched, pulling back and putting hand on her stomach, "She kicked…"

A smile broke across Brennan's face as he reached over to put his hand on her stomach. The mutant's grin widened even further, "That's daddy's little girl!" He began to laugh, "Looks you're gonna have a soccer buddy, Connor!"

Phoebe leaned back on the hedge where she had been watching her future self and her family. She wiped away the tear trickling from her eye, after everything that they had been, and now with Brennan planning on leaving, she didn't think that she and her family would ever have moments like this. But when she saw the smile on her future self's face, along with the happiness of her son, she start to think.

Perhaps the future was worth fighting for after all.

* * *

Paige sighed as she sat down on the bench, smiling as she watched her two children bounce up and down on the see saw of the play park. The sun was setting over Golden Gate Park, let a family was still within its grounds. The witchlighter narrowed her eyes slightly as she spied on the couple that was lying out on a picnic blanket. Aidan was lying down with his arm around Paige as she rested her head on his chest. Both of them were looking up at the stars that were beginning to shine through as the darkness of night crept up on them.

"Beautiful…" Future Paige murmured, looking as the stars began to fade into sight.

Aidan kissed the top of her head tenderly, stroking her hair, "Funny, I was just about to say the same about you…"

The witch narrowed her eyes and smiled, sitting up slightly and looking at the elemental, "That may just be the corniest thing you have ever said to me." She said with mock anger, "Say anything else like that and I will be forced to kiss you."

Aidan raised an eyebrow, "Oh right, like that wasn't worse than what I said, although I would be extremely pleased if you were to follow through on that threat of yours."

"Oh I bet you would." She replied saucily, leaning up slightly and catching his lips in a passionate kiss that forced the two of them to sit up so they could continue a lot easier. Paige sat on the bench, completely aghast at what she was seeing.

"Dear God… When the hell did I become so Hallmark?" She exclaimed to herself. Although she was finding hard not to smile at the happiness radiating from her future self. Maybe this was something that did appeal to her, just to a part that hadn't yet formed. Paige certainly couldn't deny that she was glad her children were playing happily and that she would love to have a peaceful life, but not right now, there were so many things she wanted to do.

In the future perhaps.

* * *

Katrina watched the three sisters began to come around, each of them blinking a few times as they steadied themselves on the invisible floor by holding themselves up their hands before standing up completely, still slightly dizzy after coming back into their own bodies. Phoebe looked around at her sisters, silently asked them if they had also seen the future.

"What did you see?" The redhead asked, keeping a neutral expression as she faced the women.

"Happiness." Piper suddenly blurted out, making both of her sisters eyes widen in the fact she had been the first to talk, "Happy children… Happy lives… Complete lives…Is that even possible?"

"It is if you guys stop doubting yourself and return to the kick ass confident witches you were years ago. Through everything over the past three and half years, you guys have most something, and it's something important. You need to reach deep within and find it again, to fuel your souls with passion for what you were charged to do all those years ago." Katrina said, frowning as she delivered this morale raising speech.

"But we don't have any powers." Phoebe pointed out.

"Not yet." The Seer retorted, "Close your eyes…" After many skeptical glances, the three of them took deep breathes and shut their eyes, "Now, find that place, find what was given you the energy and strength to fight all these years… Love, responsibility, a desire to do what's right… Find it, grab it, and shake it down until you've got everything you can from it!" Katrina grinned all of a sudden, "Open your eyes, girls,"

The sisters opened their eyes with a sigh, before gaping at what was floating in the air in front of them. Deep blue hardened leather covered the delicate ancient pages that exuded sheer magic, while a silver triquetra stood in the centre, raised from the cover slightly and gleamed in the starlight. Piper reached out, taking the book in her hands and immediately she felt a familiar tingle.

"Is this the…?"

"The Book of Shadows has been reborn, as have your powers." She pointed at the book, "It's more powerful than ever before, it has everything the old book had, including all the entries you've made, and some new stuff that you'll just have to find out about on your own." She winked with a smile.

Phoebe and Paige huddled around their older sister, running their hands over the smooth royal blue leather before tracing the shape of the metallic triquetra with their fingers. All three sisters smiled every time their hands come into contact with book, taking a small breath as they did.

"You guys feel that too?" Paige asked, closing her eyes as a ghost of smile played on her lips, a hand running across the Book of Shadows as she did.

"Yeah…" Phoebe whispered back, "It's… us!" She looked up at Katrina, "How do we get our powers back?"

"You get them the same way you got them a decade ago…" The Seer replied, obviously suppressing a smile behind her pursed lips, "Say the spell together and re-receive your abilities."

"But what about the Tribunal?" Piper frowned, knowing that their powers had been taken for a reason. To teach them a lesson.

"Trust me, sweetie, the Tribunal don't have a say in what happens up here." Katrina retorted sassily, "Now say the spell quickly; your family needs help with Satanos. Help only you can give."

Not waiting another second, Piper opened the front cover and flipped the title page and onto the spell that would return all their powers. The three of them gazed at the beautiful penmanship on the charm, before concentrated and going to read, "Hear now the words of the witches, the secrets we hid in the night… The oldest of Gods are invoked here; the work of magic is sought… In this night and in this hour, we call upon the ancient power… Bring your power to we sisters three, we want the power… Give us the power!"

The three witches gasped as they felt an amazing energy rush through their bodies, changing them and reforming the Power of Three in doing so, while restoring all the abilities they had picked up over the years. A wind gathered around the three, their hair whipping around before the Book of Shadows shut itself, the cover flipping back over and the silver triquetra glowing brightly.

"How do you feel?" Katrina smirked, seeing the look of ecstasy on their faces as they came down from feeling the power rush through them.

Piper just gaped, "Wow…" She whispered, not being able to shut her mouth.

"Okay, you guys need to go. Now. You can orb out of here, they need your help." The redhead urged.

The eldest Charmed One frowned as she tucked the Book of Shadows under her arm, linking with her sisters and preparing to leave, "Wait, aren't you coming?"

"What?" She let out a laugh, "Oh, no, I've got some important things I need to take care of; I'll be seeing you guys later though."

Accepting her answer, the Charmed Ones were slowly consumed in Paige's orbs as they disappeared, going back to Magic School to rejoin the fight. Katrina turned around, making a quick gesture and summoning a large crackling sphere of energy. It was slightly transparent so she could see within the floating white energy, "_Very_ important thing s to take care of…"

Within the sphere, a woman floated in the centre. She was curled up into the fetal position, and the only thing striking about her comatose state, was the long flaming red hair that looked as if it would cascade down to the small of her back if it wasn't floating eerily along with the woman herself. It was Emma DeLauro.

"The Charmed Ones aren't the only ones to be reborn…"

* * *

Small fires sprouted everywhere within the destroyed Great Hall. The once proud marble pillars had been knocked down, lying in half or knocked over into more wreckage. Massive chunks of the walls had been vaporized, leaving the room exposed to the sky above as bricks, marble and mortar continued to fall from the ceiling, falling into fire and causing them spread. Soft sandstone crumbled underneath Satanos's feet as he walked over it, turning towards what remaining of the corridor that led out of the hall.

He smirked, his face covered in various cuts and bruises, "C'mon Prue, is that all you've got? I'm not even tired yet." The demon passed a hand across his face, making the welts and injuries disappear instantly, "See?"

Prue winced as she touched the cut just her eye. She was certainly worse off than her enemy. Her clothes had been torn in the cataclysmic battle, revealing cuts on her arms, legs and all over her body. Soot was covering her usually slightly pale face, as her cheeks now burned with heat. The witch took slow breathes, leaning against one of the only standing pillars for support. She grinned wryly.

"I'm nowhere… near… finished…" She breathed, opening her mouth as wide as she could as a pulse of white light flew from it. The energy crashed against the demon's chest, doing no damage and only succeeding to weaken Prue further. She slid down the pillar, finally losing the battle and drifting into unconsciousness.

He began to walk towards the down witch, smirked as he outstretched his hand and grasping her limp body by the neck. Satanos brought her closer to his face, "You're pathetic…" He whispered menacingly, tightening his grip and beginning to force Prue's spirit back to the afterlife.

"I think you should put her down."

Satanos whipped his head around, back to the Great Hall to see the Charmed Ones standing above the rubble. He glanced at the large book underneath the eldest's arm. The demon began to get suspicious of the aura that surrounded the three witches. Something was different. Dropping Prue from his grasp, he turned towards them with a smile and a shrug.

"It's not like she's really who I'm after, glad you guys are back, now I can finally stop wasting my time with the cannon fodder you call family." He made a step towards them, but was stopped when Piper outstretched her arm. There was a low rumbling sound before a stalagmite suddenly flew out the ground at a forty five degree angle, smacking the demon in the chest and throwing to the back of the corridor.

The demon growled, he wasn't going to be beaten. He had faced them before when they had had all their powers, this time would be no different, he wouldn't let it be different. Satanos got back up to his feet, sprinting down the wrecked corridor, determined to kill all three in this very moment.

"Back off!" Phoebe suddenly growled, a globe of white psychic energy hovered in front of her forehead before flying towards her enemy's head, throwing him back a few feet and making him groan with pain. "Oh! I so missed doing that!" She squealed, clapping her hands excitedly.

Satanos groaned loudly as he put a hand to his forehead, he certainly hadn't missed her having that power. The demon decided that it was too risky to remain, especially when he saw Prue beginning to stir. He shot a heated glare of rage at the Charmed Ones, before wisely flaming out.

Paige put her hands on her hips, smirking sassily, "Don't mess with Charmed Ones…"


	38. With A Little Help From Our Innocents 2

I'm sorry you guys, you're going to hate me, and you should, but I don't have time for replies yet again, as I'm about to be forced off the computer in a matter of minutes! Really sorry! Hope you enjoy the chapter!

**With A Little Help From Our Innocents Part 2**

Pamela laid her hands on top of the deep blue cover of the Book of Shadows and closed her eyes. Her fingers run across the silver triquetra that seemed to stay gleaming in any light no matter how many people pawed at it. She took a sharp intake of breath and began to grin, before opening her eyes, "Damn, and… Damn!" She exclaimed, obviously impressed, "Woo, I need to sit down. What a _rush_!"

"You felt it?" Paige asked, eager to share the experience of feeling such power with someone else other than her sisters.

The teen's green eyes lit up as she opened the tome, gazing in amazement at the pages, "Wow…" She flipped another page, "This thing is amazing. It's even made your crappy entries look like works of arts."

Paige frowned in annoyance, clearly offended, "Hey!"

"Oh come on, marker pen scrawl can hardly compete with the stuff that it's been revamped into. I mean, look at the Woogy page!" The teen lifted the book gently to show her aunt the page. It was spread across two pages, one page dedicated to giving information about the true power of the Nexus, while the other had the spell written neatly in expert handwriting. The border of each page had wisps of black-purple smoke painted onto the paper. The darkness seemed to be trying to reach the information in the book, but many little balls of light had been illustrated to show the light beating back the shadows. It truly was a masterpiece. "A lot better than Phoebe's messy ballpoint handiwork, wouldn't you agree?"

Leo stepped forward from where he had been inspecting a smashed window in the classroom. The entire school had been wrecked during the fight between Prue and Satanos, the Elder still couldn't understand how the fight had been to everywhere on the premises. Even with magic, it would take decades to repair, "Don't get too attached to that thing. As soon as things settle down, I'm taking it Up There to get it checked out."

Pamela rolled her eyes, "You wouldn't be saying that if you could feel the vibe it gives off to us Halliwells. It's like…" The teen narrowed her eyes as she thought of something to describe the power, "A mini orgasm!" She suddenly exclaimed. The colour from Leo's face drained as Paige grimaced.

"Ew."

* * *

Piper raised her eyebrows at she looked through the large hole in the classroom wall. The witch could see all the way to the bottom of the corridor as hole continued through five rooms. It looked as if something had just kept running through every wall, smashing it to pieces as it went on with its rampage.

"Wow Prue, was it you or him that got thrown through six walls consecutively?" Piper snapped cheekily as she turned around to face her deceased sister, who returned her look with a glare.

"Actually, it was me." The witch turned around, looking at the large hole in the ceiling of the library that had once been separated from the other classrooms by strong walls, "But I gave as good as I got. I threw him into a loose pillar that made a big chunk of the ceiling cave in on him."

"Um… Honey, I think you missed the point of Piper's nagging…" Phoebe suggested with a cringe, earning a glare from both of her sisters and recoiling slightly. "Since when was I the middle sister of these two…?" The witch murmured to herself.

Prue turned back to her younger sister, "Look, Piper, at least I managed to kick his ass so he left. We're lucky only bricks and marble were damaged, especially since you guys didn't even think to evacuate the students."

"Okay, first of all, you didn't kick his ass out of here, we did, me, Phoebe and Paige. And second of all, we don't usually need to evacuate the students, because we have the sense to contain a fight! How do you know they were still here anyway? Did you tear through the dorms too?" The eldest Charmed One fumed, "This is going to take years to repair, even with magic. Do you realize what you've done? You've shot the education of your nephews and nieces to hell."

"Piper…" Phoebe began, attempting to calm her sister down. It was too late, Piper was already storming down the corridor as best as she could, climbing over large pieces of rubble and just managing to dodge a large part of plaster falling from the ceiling that was covered in scorch marks. "She's just a little edgy with everything going right now." Phoebe smiled, "Besides, you're the oldest, you should know better."

Prue held her hands up, "Hey, I'm not the oldest anymore, I was thirty when I died, so I shall be eternally thirty. And since the three of you have surpassed that age, I get to be the young screw up."

Phoebe was about to reply, before the shouts of a large group suddenly caught her ear. She turned, seeing her husband, Aidan and Andy come around the corner and into the obliterated corridor, each of them with stern faces and fearful eyes, "Why do I have a feeling I'm not going to like what you're about to say?" The witch groaned.

"Um… The students and teachers…" Andy looked to Brennan and Aidan for support. Both men stayed silent, leaving the former inspector on his own, "Well, they're extremely pissed at what you…" He glanced at Prue, but when he received a cold, furious stare, Andy decided to change his wording, "They're pissed at what the battle did to the place."

"Can't say I blame them…" Brennan murmured, "This place has been totaled." The mutant said with a hint of sorrow in his voice, placing his hand on a scorched wall, before quickly taking his palm away when he felt that the wall was still hot.

"You know, Brennan, that's not exactly the best way to win points with the sister in law you just met." Prue snapped, glaring at her sister's husband, "C'mon, let's go do some crowd control." She stated firmly, folding her arms and walking down the corridor towards the courtyard with Phoebe and the three men following.

The middle Charmed One was saddened to see that the once beautiful courtyard was almost worse than the inside. Fried patches of soil where still smoking from where something had hit them, it would be a while before anything would grow there again. The stone fountain in the centre was now smashed, the water now having nowhere to go and simply spraying upwards in a powerful jet. She watched as a few students tried to beat out the blazing fire that had engulfed the largest tree in the yard. Their efforts proved to be for naught when the fire intensified, becoming too hot for the teens to stand next to and they abandoned their mission.

"There she is!" Someone shouted as the group rounded the corner into the courtyard, making everyone turn around to confront them with fuming expressions. Phoebe cringed as the mob began screaming again, she gasped when she heard and saw a boy no older than fourteen shout something so obscene that even Pamela only said something like that on a rare occasion. Things like "Bitches!" and "Homewreckers!" were being screamed at the group. Phoebe finally decided to put an end to it by shoving her fingers in her mouth and letting out a high pitched whistle, silencing everyone immediately.

"Alright! That's better!" She shouted, "Okay, I know you guys are pissed off with us, but-,"

"Pissed off?" A teacher suddenly exclaimed in disbelief, "We've put up with you and your family for four years, hiding out here every time a situation gets rough, you're the Charmed Ones, yet you feel the need for protection that lesser witches than yourselves don't even need!" There were shouts of approval from various people, "Well now it's gone too far, you've destroyed the teacher's livelihood, the student's school, and all of our homes!"

"I know you're angry, but-,"

"And if that isn't enough, one of the most powerful demons that this world has ever seen now has easy access to us!" One of the seniors shouted, Phoebe recognized him from being in the basketball team with Zach.

"Would you please just listen to me…?" The middle Charmed One pleaded, but she was only met with more shouts and insults as the student body and school faculty roared in outrage. Phoebe put her hands to her forehead, clearly at her wits end. She looked her oldest sister for help, but Prue was clearly too overwhelmed with the guilt she was feeling and the guys were just overwhelmed by the entire situation.

"All of you, SHUT UP!"

The mob's shouts ceased immediately and Phoebe turned around, a smile going from ear to ear as she saw who had silenced the crowd, the witch had never been more happier to see Lexa in all her life.

"It's all well and good to be bitching and whining about how they've destroyed this place," The brunette argued, gesturing at Phoebe and rest of them, "But when have you guys lay your lives down on the line to protect people, huh? Never, that's when. It's always the Charmed Ones you run to when things get tough, well maybe this time, they need your help."

"Listen lady-," A particularly mouthy freshman began, only to be cut off by a searing bright beam of golden light just missing his left ear and obliterating part of a ruined bench that stood next to the wall. He looked as if he was going to wet himself with fear, touching his hair as he realized it had been slightly singed.

"Do that again and next time I'll aim a few feet lower and a little more to the right, got it?" The boy nodded vigorously before running to the back of the crowd. Lexa lowered her arm as the glow from her fingers faded, "Glad we understand each other."

"What did you mean by helping them?" A teacher spat, looking Prue and Phoebe up and down with disgust as she folded her arms defensively, staring coldly at Lexa as she paced in front of them.

The molecular let out a chuckle, "Are you kidding me? War." She replied simply, "There's an army in the Underworld, and it is getting stronger and stronger with every passing second. You think three witches and the riff raff that they've picked up over the years are gonna be enough to wipe out thousands of demons? No, it's not, they need your help."

Aidan decided to chip into Lexa's cause, "And if you help us get rid of Satanos, then you can rebuild this place in peace, with our help of course." The elemental added, "This is the last thing we'll ever ask from you, if you want us to leave after that, then we will. We'll be gone from your lives forever."

Phoebe watched as the crowd began to exchange hesitant looks with each other. She hadn't realized that it would take more than their usual efforts to defeat this enemy. It was something she was afraid of. It wasn't just her and her sisters in danger this time, it was everyone. Their kids, Pamela, Leo, Aidan, Brennan… everyone important in their lives would face certain death………

"I had the situation taken care of, you know," Phoebe said to her old friend in a matter of fact way as she made her way back into the library with Lexa. The students and teachers had decided to help, with the promise that the Charmed Ones would never come near Magic School again after the battle. Brennan, Aidan, Prue and Andy had stayed behind to organize them.

"Oh yeah, the whole 'head in your hands' thing told me immediately that you were in complete control." Lexa replied with a smirk, "Besides, you know me; I always have to make a great entrance. So where's my godson?"

"Staying out of harm's way." Phoebe replied immediately, "We could all die; I don't want Connor to join one of the many whose lives are hanging in the balance." She let out a sigh and shook her head, "I just don't get how you're here. How did you find out about everything?"

"Brennan contacted us a while after Emma's death. He told us about the army that he and Paige and saw when they were captured in the Underworld. And…" She led Phoebe into the library, where around thirty people were standing awkwardly with Riley and Cassy keeping them at bay, "We've been working on a little but of muscle ever since." Lexa announced triumphantly.

Phoebe narrowed her eyes in confusion, "Are these guys all mutants?"

"Yeah!" Cassy exclaimed with a grin and she and her feral teammate made their way towards the two women, "They're a little green, but we've been doing our best to get them ready. You wouldn't believe how packed Sanctuary's been, Adam was glad to get some space when we left to make our way here."

Lexa blinked a few times, "Oh, I don't think you guys have really been intro-ed." She said with a bored tone, "Phoebe, Cassy, Cassy, Phoebe." The two psionics gave each other small smiles, "Riley, Phoebe, Phoebe, meet the muscle. Or as me and Cass like to call him, Jackass."

Riley offered his comrade a wink, "Love you too, Lex!" He said enthusiastically, "And we've already met, although the last time you and everyone else were roasting that psycho super mutant on a rooftop." He kissed the back of her hand delicately, "If only we had met under different circumstances…"

Cassy gave him a disgusted look, "She's married to a hot guy and got a kid, you jackass. As if she's going to give into those big papa bear eyes." She said with a hint of annoyance, raising her hand and hitting him on the back of head.

"Damn!" He cursed, holding the back of his head and glaring at the blonde telekinetic, before turning to Phoebe with a smile, "Sorry, it's just my instinct to hit on a beautiful woman the first time a meet them."

Lexa frowned as she thought, "Wait, you never hit on me when we first met years ago.

"Yeah, me neither." Cassy piped up, looking up at the larger man with a scowl, wanting an answer that instant.

The ursine feral grinned as he put his hands up, "I rest my case!" He said cheekily, before running back to the group of mutants with Cassy shouting loud curses as she bolted over him with every intention of kicking the crap out of her teammate.

Phoebe let out a laugh, "I'm surprised you're not going after him after that." She said to Lexa, who sneered at her friend with an amused expression as she watched half of Mutant X chasing each other.

"Meh, she always gets him and kicks the snot out of him enough for both of us, why should I waste my energy on the loveable idiot?" The middle Charmed One gave her a look, "Aw… c'mon, you've got to know that was all a joke. You think I would have put with him for two year if I didn't like the guy? You know me better that."

"Yeah, it just brings back memories of you and Brennan constantly at each others throats and me and Jesse having to play mediators between the two of you." She replied, watching as Cassy leapt on Riley's back, tackling him to the ground. "So are Jess and Shal here?"

"Uh huh. They're with your sisters. But they all seemed to be dispersing to doing something else when we arrived. Brennan's sisters are here too." Lexa replied with a knowledgeable tone before walking off towards the mutant crowd to coordinate them. "I think they were doing some sort of locator ritual." The brunette added as she left, leaving Phoebe to wonder just what their new Book of Shadows was providing them with.

* * *

Pamela poured a jar of red sand into the small grey clay urn in front of her. She set down the empty jar after all of the crimson substance had been deposited, and took a meditating position on the floor where she sat. Closing her eyes, the witch took a breath, concentrating on her goal and almost going into a trance. She thought hard about her target, pursing her lips and suddenly opening her eyes.

"Dammit!" She cursed, "It didn't work! Stupid ritual…"

Jesse raised an eyebrow as he knelt down, looking into the small urn and smiling, "Pam, look." He pointed into clay pot as a small orange glow sprouted from the top, slowly getting stronger and bigger.

Paige leaned over the Book of Shadows, smirking slightly as she read it, "You guys might want to stand back…" She said quietly, almost singing with delight after reading the information, "Don't say I didn't warn you…"

The two witches were still peering before a brilliant golden light erupted from the urn with a blinding flash, throwing Jesse to his ass and forcing Pamela onto her back as a sphere of magnificent energy hovered above them. The teen groaned as she touched her mouth.

"I bith my thongue!" She exclaimed, holding onto her mouth in agony and making Paige laugh.

"Well, I did warn you. Maybe that'll teach you to listen to me more." The youngest Charmed One remarked as she sat down in an armchair that had a smoldering hole in back.

Pamela seethed as she got to her feet, brushing down her black jeans before looking at her aunt, "I really don't why you're sitting down, I didn't meet this feraltongue boy and since the tracker needs to be… tracked, you better get orbing." She suggested snidely. "Oh look…"

As the words came out of her mouth, the orange orb suddenly shot up through a large hole in the ceiling, disturbing more of the plaster and bringing it down on Pamela and Jesse, who were angered further as they began to wipe even most dust off themselves. Paige jumped to her feet, following the light with her eyes as it tore across the sky that was lit up by the rising sun.

"Aw… Crap!" She shouted, her body being devoured in a cloud of bright lights as she orbed out. The haze of blue and white shot up through the ceiling, pursuing the tracker just as Phoebe and Lexa entered.

The middle Charmed One looked up, spotting a glint of light disappear out the hole in the ceiling, "Where is she going?" She said in a raised voice, slightly angered at the fact that her sister was leaving at such a crucial time.

"She's recruiting." Jesse replied, going towards Phoebe hugging her, "It's good to see you." He said in a friendly way, pulling back with a smile.

"Hey, you too." The witch replied with a smile, looking at her niece with a smirk as Pamela flipped the pages of the new book with wonder, "It's amazing, isn't it?" She asked, grinning.

The teen nodded, "We just did a locator ritual. It's a lot more efficient than scrying and pretty hard to fool, so there's less chance of us getting tricked or lured into a trap. Another plus." She said, almost scoffing at the way they used to operate. Phoebe slammed her hand down on the book immediately, giving her niece a cold stare.

"Pam, scrying could have worked just as well."

She shrugged in response, "I was taking this thing for a test drive, what's the harm in a little locator ritual? It's better we find out these flaws right now other than in a life threatening situation."

"You took it for a joy ride more like," Phoebe said in a warning tone, "Look, Pam, I know this thing is cool and powerful, but we can't just throw our old methods out the window. The book may have changed but its purpose hasn't, we turn to it in desperate situations and as a last resort, not for something to do when we're bored."

Pamela raised an eyebrow, "Okay, first of all, chill out. It was a lousy locator spell, and this way, we'll know if works or doesn't work. It's the only spell I've cast so far, everything else has been potions that Paige or Emma made that have been put in here. So don't talk to me like I'm a novice, I've been a witch longer than you, Piper and Paige. In fact, those guys…" She gestured at Jesse and Lexa, "Have been witches longer than you, maybe not born witches but they've still had to cope with the power their entire lives. Just because you're more powerful, doesn't make you better…" Pamela finished with a hint of disgust as she left the room, storming out of the door and giving Phoebe a headache.

"Ugh… I don't have time to dwell on this. Where is Piper?" She asked Jesse wearily, who shrugged timidly, not wanting to push his friend too hard so that she'd snap.

"I have no idea." He admitted, "But she, Leo and Shalimar all orbed out somewhere, I think they were going to get more people."

Phoebe sighed and put her hands on her hips, "And where would they go to do that?"

* * *

The heat of the tropics hit Piper instantly as the orbs dispersed, leaving her with Leo and Shalimar on a dusty path. Plants surrounded them, each one looked more vibrant and bigger than the next, the eldest Charmed one gazed in amazement at the height of a tree next to them, she craned her neck back so much she had almost fell backwards. She hadn't taken the time to marvel at the island's beauty the last time she had been here. Walking forward a little, her back instantly tensed when a high pitched shrieking tore through the air, but when Piper realized it had just been a bird call, she laughed at her fright.

"Oh my God…" Shalimar breathed, her heightened senses being treated to the sounds of nature and the intoxicating aromas of the various overgrowth that surrounded them, "This place is spectacular!" The feral held her arms out wide, trying to absorb as much of the outdoors as possible.

"We need to hurry, the alert's probably already been sounded by us orbing in…" Leo looked around timidly. He had that he wouldn't need to return here after the five weeks of hell he had endured.

Piper made a small noise and waved his notion away, "Honey, relax. We go way back. Besides, battles are what they live for; it's a way of life, they're sure to help. And even if they don't there not going to-,"

"Get down!" Shalimar suddenly bellowed, diving at the couple with supernatural speed and tackling them to the ground.

Piper caught a metallic gleam that lasted for a millisecond as it passed by. Whatever it had been, had sliced off all the flower heads of the large plant on the side of the path. This angered her more than usual, as ever since she had retrieved her geokinetic abilities, she felt saddened every time nature was hurt.

She restrained herself from blowing up the warrior responsible as she got up to her feet. If it hadn't been for the current situation they were in, Piper would had laughed out loud when she saw the hulking bearded man caught in a headlock, courtesy of Shalimar.

"Make a grab for that sword and its lights out for you in one quick twist…" The mutant growled, beginning to turn the man's neck to show that she wasn't kidding. He immediately began whimper, sweat running down his bald head as he thought his life was coming to an end.

Piper walked towards the man, bending down to talk into his ear, "We'll release you if you take us to Freyja."

"Piper!" Came a gasp of a shout from along the path. The Halliwell turned around and offered the head of the Valkyries a warm smile. Freyja hadn't aged a day within the four years they hadn't seen each other, white-blonde hair cascaded down to her pale shoulders, barely covering the brown string that kept her turquoise pendent fastened to her neck, letting the gem sit on her front. Her clothes were still the same; dark brown suede gauntlets covered her forearms, silver wings decorating them as a symbol of her position and power.

"Freyja!" Piper returned with a grin, turning around and gesturing to Shalimar to release the warrior. The feral reluctantly complied, eyeing him suspiciously as he went to retrieve his sword from the ground, glaring at the blonde mutant that had reduced him to a spineless coward.

"Call off everyone else, tell them it was a false alarm." Freyja commanded her inferior, narrowing her eyes as he hesitated a little, "Now." She said with a dark raised voice, making the warrior flee in the opposite direction to carry out his orders. "What brings you to the island?" The Valkyrie asked kindly, smiling at her visitors.

Pier exchanged looks with Shalimar and Leo, turning back to her old friend and fidgeting with her hands slightly, "We need your help."

* * *

"Aidan, what the hell is this?" Paige exclaimed at the horde of soldiers that stood in the ruins of the Great Hall. The elemental turned around, giving his girlfriend a nervous smile and turning towards the platoon.

Each of them were dressed head to toe in gleaming silver armour, the Atlantian emblem imprinted on the chest plate with small blue jewels in place of the eyes of the leviathan on the symbol. Trident like weapons were held in their hands, almost double the height of each soldier and looked extremely deadly. Paige recognized this type of warrior as the ones that had tried to stop her when she had stormed the castle.

"Okay, you're all on standby for the time being, if the enemy comes you know what to do. I have faith in all of you, don't let me down. Make your king proud." He said firmly, and instantly there was a clatter as the soldiers all performed a salute before dispersing into social groups.

"You gonna explain now?" Paige asked with a raised eyebrow as Aidan walked towards her. Prue was making an entrance through a large hole in the wall, giving the soldiers odd looks as she passed.

Aidan looked back at his warriors, "Well, I sorta wanted to do my part to help out, you know? Piper's got Valkyries, Brennan got Mutant X, and Leo's away getting centaurs, I just wanted to do something…" He admitted bashfully.

Paige smiled, moving closer, "Sweetie, you being here is doing something, and it's keeping me together through this. I don't really want to think about you being in a big life threatening battle. I would feel better if you went Up There and-,"

"No, I'm staying. I want to protect you." He said immediately, completely dismissing the idea leaving his love.

The witchlighter sighed, "Why don't you go get Skye? And Maxwell, if you think that he's been trained well enough for a big battle, that's the best you can do right now, I would have been a lot happier if you had just did that in the first place instead of bringing them…" She sneered with dislike at the soldiers.

"Okay…" He whispered, leaning down and kissing her softly, putting his arm around her neck and pulling her closer, "Love you…" Aidan said quietly, caressing her cheek with the back of his hand. Paige leaned up for another kiss, and just as their lips met, Aidan was consumed in water and promptly splashed out to find his magical comrades.

The youngest Charmed One shook her head on frustration, "I _hate_ it when he does that!" She exclaimed, clenching her fists in annoyance before she noticed her eldest sister making her way towards her, "Hey, how are the students?"

"Oh, they're all set, just trying to sort through all the stuff that was wrecked during the fight…" Prue bowed her head, "They found that girl Jenna under the rubble…" She admitted, her eyes already beginning to fill up.

Paige's heart skipped a beat as the colour drained from her face, "And…?"

Prue looked up, "One of the mutant's that came with Mutant X has the power of vitakinesis, she's been healing her for half an hour but Jenna's fading too fast and the healing isn't regenerating her body fast enough…"

"I'll go help." Paige replied immediately, sweeping past Prue and heading for the hole in the hall that led out in the direction of the dorms. She turned around as she left, "Prue, it's not your fault. If it hadn't been for you, there'd be a lot more casualties."

"… Jenna is one _way_ too many…" Prue murmured.

Leaving with a shake of her head and a sigh, the witchlighter stepped out of the Great Hall and headed towards the dormitory. Prue began to walk down the corridor, heading towards where Piper was gathering their forces for something to keep herself busy. She was so concentrated on the floor that she didn't stop herself in time and bumped roughly into Andy, who quickly caught her before she fell back.

"Oh… sorry…" She said wearily, going to walk past him, but Andy gently put his hand on her arm, making her turn around to reveal her teary eyes. The mortal immediately turned his body to he was facing her properly, taking his hand away from her arm.

"Prue, what's wrong?"

The eldest Halliwell sister looked up, "Does nearly killing our daughter's best friend qualify as something to cry about…?"

Wordlessly, Andy held out his arms, letting Prue rush into them, silent angry tears falling from the witch's eyes as she held to the man tightly quietly weeping into his shirt as they stood silently in the middle of hall.

* * *

Phoebe exited the burnt out classroom, carrying all the potion ingredients she had been able to retrieve from the wreckage. She waddled along the corridor, barely able to see past all the jars that were piled up in her arms and almost crashed into the wall when she didn't turn in time. The witch heard the clopping of heels against the marble floor, craning her neck to see who it was.

"Let me help you." Pamela offered tonelessly, taking some of the jars and clearing Phoebe's vision.

"Thanks…" They resumed walking. The middle Charmed One's mouth opened and closed a few times as she struggled with what to say to her niece, "Look, Pam, about earlier…"

Pamela shook her head, "Forget about it, we're all a little on edge and we both lost it. Let's just leave it at that…" She said with the same neutral tone, making her aunt frown in confusion.

"I'm sorry if it sounded like I was patronizing you, it's just-,"

"I said it's in the past. Let's just leave it, can't really afford to hold grudges against the people you love, especially when you're facing certain death…" She smiled, "Although the chances of dying are starting to wear thin, have you seen the amount of people that have gathered to help?"

Phoebe's frown furthered, "What are you talking about? Last I heard, Piper had gone away somewhere with Shal and Leo."

"Well…" Pamela said, a full grin breaking out on her face as they rounded the corner into the courtyard, "Let's just say we've pulled our resources."

The middle Charmed One's jaw dropped at the sight in front of her. The courtyard was packed with a variety of war mongering magical creatures. The clattering of swords was the first thing that came to her ears as Valkyries sparred against each other, following the rigorous training pattern that Freyja, who was standing in front of her warriors with her hands on her hips, had set out for them. There had to about sixty of the demi-goddesses, each of them performing unbelievable feats of martial arts, gymnastics and sheer battling skills. Phoebe focused on one pair in particular as their swords clashed, both were locked in a battle of muscle, before one of them shoved a hand at the other's chest, throwing her opponent into the air with supernatural strength, only for the woman to perform a breath taking flip in the air and land delicately on the ground, stumbling slightly as she did and losing her balance.

"Your turn was off centre!" Freyja bellowed, having watched the fight, "If you mess up like that in the real battle, the enemy will not hesitate to run their weapon right through you! Understood?" Her eyes widened manically, making the Valkyrie nod vigorously.

"Yes Freyja!" The woman replied with a slight bow, before letting out a primal scream as she charged at her sparring partner, sword raised and ready to do battle.

Phoebe jumped as two men roared at each other; she turned around, flinching when their spears met in the middle of their clash. She was about to turn back around to the Valkyries, before doing a double take when realizing that the men were actually centaurs. The two in question were pushing against each other with their spears, growling as they tried to undo the other. They finally tore apart from each other, before racing in again for another deathblow, only to be thwarted by the other yet again. She flinched for a second time when they collided. It seemed to be a lot rougher than what the Valkyries were doing for training, but then again, the centaurs were bigger and stronger, and probably a lot more destructive.

"Not good enough! Do not waste your energy by fighting uselessly against one another, use your opponent's strength to your advantage and gain the upper hand!" A centaur shouted as he watched over all the sparring creatures.

Taking the advice, one of the centaurs performed a quick sidestep as him and his opponent clashed, causing him to lose his footing as he fell forward, crashing to the ground and disturbing the dusty remains of the courtyard in the process.

"Good!" The centaur who had been giving advice boomed, "Now, continue, and remember, your strength isn't always your greatest weapon."

"Yes, Rodan." The centaur that had fooled his opponent replied, going over to his downed comrade and offering him a hand, helping him up before returning to a fighting stance and galloping back into a jousting match.

"Pretty good, huh?" Pamela grinned at her aunt's expression, "Aidan got about fifty soldiers from Atlantis as well. I think we have a pretty good chance of holding off an army, don't you?"

Phoebe could only smile.

* * *

"How are you doing?" Paige asked the mutant urgently as the woman released an odd looking green glow from her hands over Jenna's bruised and beaten body. Some of the students had gathered, mainly because it was a distraction from rummaging through their charred possessions.

The auburn haired mutant shook her head warily, "My power is supposed to heal diseases, not broken bones. I've barely been able to keep her alive…" She said darkly, narrowing her eyes as she concentrated further.

"Okay, keep doing what you're doing. I'm going to need all the help I can get." Paige advised darkly as knelt down, putting her hands over Jenna's chest and releasing a brilliant golden light from her palms. She spun her head around, facing the students, "Give her some air, for Gods sake!" The witchlighter screamed, making the tight circle of people disperse and leaving the two healers.

Paige smiled slightly as the deep purple bruises on the teen's pale skin began to fade away, along with the bleeding welts that covered her cheeks. The light streaming from her hands came to a stop as it finished its job, Jenna's eyelids flickered as she came to, pushing herself up into a sitting position with a groan as she opened her eyes slowly, squinting at the sunlight.

"Are you okay?" Paige asked, rubbing the teen's back.

The dark haired girl smiled, "Considering that I got crushed by a ton of brick wall, I'm freaking fantastic…" She said sarcastically, letting Paige help her to her feet, "I should never have tried to move that boulder."

The witchlighter raised an eyebrow, "So wait, you didn't get stuck under there during the fight?"

"What? No." She laughed at the thought, "I thought I saw something shining under some rubble, so I moved one of the rocks that just happened to be holding up a large piece of shaky wall. I should have shapeshifted it into a big pillow or something, but I wasn't quick enough."

Paige breathed a sigh of relief, "Thank God…"

"Lemme guess, you thought that Pam would throw a fit if she thought Prue had killed me?" Jenna smirked, beginning walk away, "I think she's dealing with her own problems right now anyway…"

"What do you mean?"

The teen frowned, "What? You didn't know that Zach broke up her? Pretty asswipe-ish thing to do if you ask me, the least he could have did was make the dumping mutual at graduation, but he had to get in there first…" She let out a sigh, "Listen, I gotta go help. I'll see you later…" Jenna walked away, giving Paige a small wave as she left and leaving the witchlighter understand what the girl had just told her.

* * *

Piper looked on with curiosity as Lewis stood in the centre of the room, his eyes closed in concentration for whatever he was trying to do. The sun was beginning to set, casting a twilight glow over the grounds of Magic School. The lighting was beginning to make everyone nervous, knowing that they really were on the eve of the biggest battle of their lives. The witch became alert as a faint buzzing noise reached her ears, it was slowly getting louder. Piper raised her hands, preparing to attack whatever was coming, but she never expected what was about to happen.

A massive swirling cloud suddenly flew in through a hole in the ceiling. The buzzing became so deafening that Piper hadn't heard the various other animals make their way towards the room. She peered at the cloud, her eyes widening when she realized it was a gigantic swarm of hornets. Raising her hands, Piper prepared to blast hem out of the sky, until Lewis held up his hand, signaling for her to do nothing. She jumped when a roar brought her attention to the five large brown bears that were hulking through the gaping hole in the wall; each of them seemed to follow the other in complete precision.

More animals continued to appear out of nowhere, Piper felt a chill go down her spine as a wolf howl echoed in the air, a pack of the grey furred creatures making their way towards the centre of the room where Lewis was. The eldest Charmed One stood frozen in fear as one of the largest eagles she had ever seen swooped past her, just inches away from the top of her head. She had always had an irrational fear of birds.

"I thought you could only talk to dogs!" Piper exclaimed as the boy knelt to scratch the back of a wolf's ear, making it whine appreciatively.

"I've been honing my skills ever since the whole thing with Cerberus." He replied calmly, making a dampening gesture to all the animals as a sign to quiet down, "Emma helped a lot with my powers after it all, she's been amazing."

"How did she help you?"

"I'm one of her empath charges." He explained, "Although I haven't seen her in a while, where is she?" Lewis gave her a curious glace, making Piper begin to fidget with her hands as she struggled for an answer.

"Um…" She stuttered, "Emma's… Just taking some time off from the whole magic thing, yeah, she was just completely burnt out after everything with Lorna, Grant… She just needed a little break, you know?"

"Oh…" The teen's head drooped, "But she's been away for months, do you know when she's coming back? I mean, my new empath is okay I guess… But he's no Emma." He admitted bashfully, his cheeks flushing with embarrassment.

Piper suppressed a smile. She didn't need to be an empath to see that the feraltongue had developed a small crush on the deceased psionic, which made it even harder for her to lie to him, "Um… I'm sure she'll be back soon. It's been… really rough for her lately."

"Okay." He conceded quietly, before suddenly lighting up and talking to the animals he had summoned, "Okay guys! Just… be ready at any time! Do want you want until then!"

With various growls, screeches, and hoots of approval, all of the animals began to disperse. The large swarm of hornets buzzed loudly as they disappeared through the hole in the ceiling. Piper's eyes widened when two rhinos that she hadn't noticed suddenly ran past her, the ground shaking with every step their large heavy feet took. She watched in amazement as the animals almost seemed to fade away, the roaring, the howling, everything vanished.

It was something like this that set off a pang of sadness in Piper's heart. The first time they had met Lewis, he had been a scared little boy with a limited knowledge of the true potential of his gift, yet with Emma's guidance, he had become strong, well versed in his powers, and seemed to be a better person for the experience.

She smiled, now realizing that everything they had done ever since meeting Emma, had changed them drastically for the better. Emma had shaped them into the people they were now. Piper let out a chuckle when she thought that her and her sisters had really been in the same position as Lewis when they had first met. The three of them had never really been confident in their abilities, always doubting themselves at every turn, but the fear seemed to gradually fade within the time Emma had been with them.

"Thank you…" The witch whispered into the wind, turning away and walking out of the classroom, going to find her sisters. As she left, Piper failed to notice a small speck of pink light in the corner of the ceiling, a light being caused by one, lone, pink orb.

* * *

"Prue, I really don't think we should be doing this. I mean, we're both supposed to be dead after all. What if someone recognizes us?" Andy asked, looking around with wide blue eyes as they climbed up the steps of the apartment building, the eldest Halliwell sister charging ahead and leaving her love in the dust.

"Well, that's exactly why we took the stairs, so there's no chance of us getting recognized on the elevator. Besides, it looks as if you've gotten lazy during your time as a whitelighter, time to work off those love handles!" She grinned playfully, jumping up two steps at a time, "Besides, the person I'm after is a witch, he's not going to be surprised to two supposed to dead beings arriving on his doorstep."

The mortal took a deep breath, "Why are we even trying to get one witch anyway? It's not as if one if going to make the difference, especially since there's centaurs, Valkyries and all sorts of other guys…"

Prue stopped abruptly, turning around and raising an eyebrow in Andy's direction, "I'm one witch, did I not make a difference last night when you were all about to die?" She folded her arms, waiting for an answer.

Andy let out a sigh, taking advantage in the stop of the pace, "That's not how I meant it. Besides, you're hardly one witch when you've got the power of an entire Wiccan line at your disposal, not to mention you're Charmed."

She smiled wryly, turning back around and continuing to climb the stairs, "I'm not Charmed… I'm not… anything anymore. I'm gone." The witch said croakily with a hint of sorrow, "And we're doing this so that we can say we contributed." She answered his initial question flatly.

Andy took the next flight two at a time, catching up to Prue and putting a hand on her shoulder, "We don't really belong in this world anymore, do we? Is that why you're doing this?"

She shrugged his hand off, matching his stare with her emerald eyes, "Let's face it; I'm only here because I was a last resort, and you're here because of some cruel twist of fate. We don't belong; even if you were… are a whitelighter…"

He raised his hand slowly, cupping her cheek and looking at her face longingly, "The only reason I decided to become a whitelighter was because I thought that we could still be with each other somehow…"

Prue hesitated with her answer, "Was I really worth a decade of misery, Andy?"

Andy replied by suddenly diving down, catching her lips in a fierce kiss and moving his other hand to hold her face firmly but gently. Prue's eyes bulged with surprise before closing gradually, sinking into the act of love and letting out a small moan of ecstasy as she moved closer to him, draping her arms over his shoulders and returning the kiss with every bit of passion she could muster.

They eventually broke apart, the witch's mouth still hanging open a little in shock, "Wow…" She finally managed to choke out, swaying on the spot as if she was about to lose her balance.

"Yeah…" Andy replied with an inane grin on his face, "A stairwell of all places… Go figure."

Prue blinked as she looked around, smiling slightly when she saw the number on the door that was to their left. "Looks like we're here." She smiled, finally tearing herself away from Andy and opening the door into the lobby of this floor.

The hallway was tastefully decorated; it really paid to live here. Sophisticated miniature spotlights were embedded in the ceiling, passing a calming glow throughout the corridor. A beige carpet adorned the floor, with the original wooden floor boards running along the side. The elevator suddenly opened with a ding, making Prue and Andy freeze on the spot as they waited for whoever was in it come out.

The eldest Halliwell sister's jaw dropped in surprise at what she saw. A young African American man came out of the elevator, fishing into his jean pocket for keys as he balanced a brown bag on his hip. He was tall, around six foot five Prue guessed, and had a shaved head, the only hair on his head was the day old stubble around and on his chin that gave him a rugged look. But Prue smiled when she saw the one defining feature that told her this was who she was looking for, the metallic circular lens glasses that the young man adjusted after he pulled his keys out of his pocket.

Hugging the wall, the couple crept up behind him as he went to open the door to his apartment. Prue came to a grinding halt when the man's head suddenly looked up, as if he had heard something. When his head lowered back to the lock of his door, the Halliwell took one step forward, only for her and Andy to be picked up by an unseen force that threw them into the air, making them land hard a few feet from where they once stood. The man put his groceries down calmly to face the two people on the ground.

"I've been hunting demons for around ten years." He announced, in a much deeper voice than Prue remembered, "Do you really I can't tell the diff… Prue Halliwell?" His eyes widened at the sight.

She winced as her and Andy got to their feet, "I see you've certainly got your psychokinetic abilities under control, Max." The witch commented wryly, "You've changed a lot… What age are you now? Around twenty three?"

"Twenty three next month." He replied flatly, giving Prue and Andy a curious glance as if he didn't believe their story, "How do I know you're the real Prue? I mean, the last I heard she died seven years ago."

The witch rolled her eyes in response, "Well, why don't I tell you how we first met? You were sending me messages on my spirit board with your powers; you had been kidnapped by your friend's big brother and his boss, who wanted to rob a bank. I came to your rescue, got captured, and then me and you used our collective powers to kick their scummy asses. That a good enough description?"

Max gave her a long stare, looking into her eyes. Somewhere, the tranquil green orbs stirred a memory within him, "But… how?"

"It doesn't matter right now." Prue stepped forward, "We need your help."

* * *

A grin spread across Paige's when she saw the sight around her. The wreckage of the classroom had been cleared to the sides of the room, leaving the wide open space where a roaring fire was filling the area with a cozy heat, smoke funneling through a hole in the ceiling and clouding the starry night sky as it did. At one of the walls, there was a mattress, covered in what looked like a large pair of curtains.

"Surprise…" Aidan's voice came from behind the fire, where he sat on the floor warming up from the cold, "Are you going to come join me or just stand there?" He asked with a grin on his face as he watched his girlfriend look around in awe.

"Did you do all this?" She asked as she sat down on the floor, shimmying over to him and resting her weary head on his shoulder.

He nodded, "Yeah, I wanted things to be as perfect as they could be. Brennan and Leo have been helping me throughout the day with it whenever they had time." The elemental looked around at the make shift haven, "We did a pretty good job, don't you think?"

Paige looked around before smiling, planting a kiss on Aidan's cheek as he slipped an arm around her waist, pulling her closer so they could share each others warmth, "It's amazing… Although Piper and Phoebe are gonna be a little pissed that their husbands did all this for their sister in law and not them!" She joked.

"I think they'll understand." Aidan replied, a smile playing on his lips as he looked up through the hole in the ceiling as the smoke temporarily changed direction, allowing then to see the stars sparkle in the sky, "Beautiful…" He leaned down and kissed her head lovingly.

"Hmm… I know, they're really clear-,"

"I wasn't talking about the stars." He replied bashfully, making Paige narrow her eyes as she sat up, suspicious of his behaviour.

"Okay, just what has gotten into you, Parker?" She said with a smirk, moving closer and resting her forehead against his, "I never knew you were capable of such corny lines." That was a lie, as she had seen her so called perfect future just the night before. She frowned as redness began to appear in his cheeks, "What is it?"

"We've been through a lot, haven't we?" He suddenly blurted out.

Paige raised an eyebrow as she thought about the question, "Does 'hell yes' answer that question or do you need anything else?" She smiled, but it soon faded when he didn't smile back. Something was wrong, she could feel it.

He suddenly reached around his back; fishing into his pocket and pulling out something that literally made Paige's heart skip a beat. It was a royal purple velvet box. Aidan opened it, revealing a simple yet breath taking ring, a silver band of metal with a small diamond nestled in the middle, "I thought it would be a bit tacky to use the same ring, especially since it seems to be an omen of bad luck for us…" He explained softly, taking her hand.

"Aidan-,"

"Just let me get this out before I forget it all and make a fool of myself." He quickly cut her off, "Paige… you are…" He struggled to find the right words, "Everything, you're everything in my life that I could ever have wanted. You've blessed me with two beautiful children, who are, along with you, the most important people in my life. You're my soulmate, my one, my… everything." Paige's face drained of all colour as he continued, "We've been through so much, and yet, on this night, the eve of what very well may be the day we die, I have never been happier than right now, with you." Aidan swallowed back his nerves, determined to finish this, "I want to be with you for the rest of my life, whether the rest of my life be a day or fifty years, I just want it to be with you. So… will you do me the honour of marrying me?"

Paige looked up at his face, tears now rolling silently down her cheeks after hearing his plea. She felt it; everything he had said was what she felt inside. What was causing the hesitation? The thought of losing him again? Perhaps the thought of finally settling down? There were so many things left unanswered, things that she wanted to be answered. She just wasn't sure.

But as her eyes wondered down to the ring, sitting in his hand, Paige realized, that sometimes life _was_ black and white, sometimes nothing had to be analyzed, sometimes there _was_ just a simple answer, sometimes you just had to follow your heart. She put a hand over the one he had on her knee, and squeezed it tightly, a final tear streaming from her eye as she opened her mouth…

"Yes."

* * *

Chapter 39 **"To Live To Fight Another Day"** will be up soon. 


	39. To Live To Fight Another Day 3

Princess Pinky – Lol, well, with the timeline of my fic, most of the innocents from Season 1 are around 10 years older now! So I thought it would be a great opportunity to bring him back! I thought about bringing Tyler back, but then I would have to go through him wanting his powers back etc… And the Pam/Zach break up is explained in the sequel.

Phoebe turner – Thanks!

Prince Halliwell – I'm glad you liked all of it! And like I told Princess Pinky, Zach's reasons will be explained the sequel. And yes, even I, the writer, is glad to see Aidan and Paige together. Lol.

ColePhoebe4eva – Yeah, I used to like Magic School, but lately it's just been getting on my nerves, so I thought 'Hey I'll blow it up!' Lol. It means I can have a lot more mortal school storylines in future stories too. I'm glad you liked it.

Chyp – Thanks.

Fanmania – Lol, thanks, the last chapter was just really a fluff to balance out this chapter, which is basically one massive fight. Lol. Thanks for reviewing.

Piperfairy – Ha, that seems to be most people's reaction to the engagement. I like him too; he's the only other witch they've ever run into really.

**To Live To Fight Another Day Part 3**

Paige stared at the rising sun through the shattered window of the classroom. Her thumb moved in circles on the back of Aidan's hand as he clutched to her subconsciously in his sleep by putting a strong arm around her waist. She raised her left hand to the gradually increasing light, smiling at the engagement ring on her finger as it sparkled in the morning glow.

With a small sigh, the witchlighter gently lifted her fiancée's arm from her body, releasing herself from his loving hold and sitting on the mattress, turning around to see Aidan frown as her form was taken from him. She turned slightly, bending down and barely brushing her lips on his.

"Ew…" Paige grimaced at the clothes she had been wearing for the past two days. She smiled when she noticed a misshapen pile of fresh clothes that were close to the burnt out remains of the fire from the night before. She stood up, tip toe-ing towards the pile and beginning to fish through it for something she wanted.

She settled for a normal pair of jeans with a shimmering black top that had thin straps to keep it on her shoulders and around her torso. Paige quickly changed as quietly as she could, not wanting to disturb Aidan from his sleep. She wanted to do this with as little words as possible.

The youngest Charmed One held her sneakers in her hand, not wanting to make any noise as she walked towards the door, gently placing her hand on the handle and gripping it tightly before turning it slowly and opening the door gradually, wincing as the wood creaked as she disturbed it.

She was met with both of her sisters sitting on the floor of the Great Hall, a large blanket covering their shoulders as their eyes scanned over the pages of the new Book of Shadows. Phoebe pointed at something in the book, making Piper frown before nodding as she understood what her younger sister was saying.

"Is strategizing just for two or can I join in?" She walked towards the two on the floor, alerting them to her presence as she sat down and shimmied across to her sisters, where Piper extended her arm along with the blanket, inviting her sister into the huddle.

"Come join. We're just looking for ways to execute the thing we talked about last night. Do you think you can still pull it off?" Piper asked her sister as she wrapped her in the blanket. Paige took time to notice the dark patches underneath both her sisters' eyes.

The witchlighter shrugged as she surveyed the page that the book was open at, "I should. Did you get the ingredients I need last night?" She placed her hand on the page, going over what it said, "Because this spell only strengthen the-."

"Whoa!" Piper suddenly exclaimed, "We've got a UFJ on our hands!"

Paige raised her eyebrows as her oldest sister suddenly grabbed her wrist and raised her hand to hers and Phoebe's eye level, "Excuse me?"

"Unidentified Fabulous Jewelry." She quickly explained, her eyes narrowing at the ring on Paige's finger and scrutinizing it carefully with a smile on her face. Phoebe however, was not as subtle with her excitement.

"Oh my God…" The middle Charmed One squealed, cupping her nose and mouth with her hands in shock before suddenly gripping Paige's hand tightly and gazing at the ring, "You're engaged!" She suddenly exclaimed, making Piper suddenly clamp her little sister's mouth shut by putting her hand across Phoebe's mouth.

"Our little plan to sneak away won't work if you go shouting stuff like that!" She hissed before turning to Paige, "Although congratulations are _definitely_ in order." She wrapped an arm around her youngest sibling's shoulders, hugging her and rested her head on hers, "You deserve it, honey. After everything you've been through, it couldn't have happened to anyone else…"

"Thanks…" She soaked up the tenderness of the moment before getting back to business, "But let's not get ahead of ourselves. It's going to be a really long engagement; I'm talking like a year, so let's just get back to avoiding certain death, shall we?"

Phoebe nodded quickly, pointing at the page, "Is this the sort of thing you said you needed? Because if it is then Piper and I will get to work on the other stuff while you work on this."

"Um…" She peered at the artistic writing, studying what it said, "Yeah, this'll be great. I just need a little blood from each of us and we'll be set."

"Alrighty then!" Piper announced, closing the Book of Shadows over and tucking under her arm before standing up, pulling her sisters to their feet with her, "I suggest we get to work now and make the first move."

* * *

"Are they ready?" Satanos spat at the armour clad former Atlantian General, who whipped his head around and glared at his boss before gesturing down into the chasm filled with the thousands of demons that had been created, each of them roaring and sharpening their weapons as they sensed a battle was looming.

Kahn scowled at the demon, "They're mid level demons with not much intelligence, I've prepared as best as I can, but then again, I'm sure they didn't need to be trained to perform a massacre. As I understand, that sort of thing comes naturally to your kind."

The evil being grew angry, suddenly grabbing his inferior by the throat and lifting him up, holding him over the pit of violent demons, "They've had to go for two years without a single kill. You've lived out your use, so I suggest you don't anger me if you don't want to die now."

"Very… well…" He managed to breathe out from the demon's grip before he was thrown across the plateau, rolling along the ground and hitting the wall roughly with a clang, his armour now scratched after going along the rocky floor.

"Get them ready." Satanos ordered, turning back to his army with his arms folded, "Storm the school with them, I've broken through the barrier and I know how to do it again, corner them on their turf while I take care of the Charmed Ones." He growled, picturing his three enemies in his mind and clenching his fists.

"Aw… Hear that girls? He's going to take care of us. How nice of him." An arrogant voice almost singed from behind them. The demon turned around, his eyes widened in rage when he saw the Charmed Ones standing together at the mouth of the cave that led back to Katrina's former chambers.

Despite his anger, Satanos managed to grin, "You three made a big mistake coming down here. Do you even know what you're standing on the edge of? The biggest army of the Underworld, and it's going to slaughter everyone you've ever loved." The girls remained silent and stone faced, "Get them moving! NOW!" He bellowed in the direction of Kahn who was just getting back up.

"You!" Piper and Paige gaped in unison, remembering the warrior from their first trip to Atlantis. They had thought that Aidan had killed him with the help of Undine sacrificing herself to give her son the power he needed to vanquish the corrupt man.

Kahn merely smiled, brushing some dust off a plate of his armour before his form was distorted by the shimmers that consumed him, taking him away from the plateau. A deafening roar was heard below, making the three witches take a step forward to investigate before a massive fireball was thrown towards them, blowing up about a foot away from them and throwing the sisters back into the chamber, each of them letting out a yelp of pain as they hit the ground.

Satanos stepped forward, lowering his arm and snuffing the flames that writhed in his palm, "Now, where were we?"

* * *

Pamela shook her head in annoyance before a chill in her lungs rushed out of her body in the form of a cryokinetic cloud of frost. The icy mist enveloped the flames in the centre of the room, leaving only a lick of smoke which the teen stamped out firmly with her foot before turning around and cursing.

"They must have run off hours ago, what were they thinking?" She snarled at her two uncles, who were looking through the wreckage for some of the weapons that had been placed on the walls of Magic School, almost as trophies.

Brennan grinned as his hands gripped something metallic underneath a mound of wood shafts, "Gotcha!" He exclaimed triumphantly, yanking on what he held and revealing a bronze goblet, "Dammit!" The elemental cursed loudly throwing the harmless cup across the Great Hall and crouching down in defeat. "I give up,"

"C'mon Pam, we know why they left. To avoid as much drama as possible, if you were going to die, would you want a lot of drawn out goodbyes?" Leo asked his niece before reaching for something under the rubble and pulling out a thin weapon, a rapier. The Elder smiled at his luck as Brennan glared at him.

The witch let out a wry chuckle, "I'm probably not the best person to ask, too many goodbyes in my life to remember them all. But I would probably not want to say goodbye at all…" She turned with a smile, "But that's just me."

"Then that's probably how your aunts are feeling." He looked at her with a grin, "Your behaviour doesn't all just come from you, you know." Leo said, realizing that Pamela really did have a little of each Charmed One in her.

Pamela sighed, "Do you think they'll be okay?"

"Yeah." He replied, a little too quickly for Pamela's liking. She shrugged it off the pang in the pit of her stomach and went back to looking and shaking her head at the remains of the fire.

"Okay…" Aidan announced as he walked into the hall, climbing over the various pieces of shattered marble and sandstone, "Prue is taking care of the Valkyries and Centaurs in the south wing, we though it would be better for Andy to take the students and teachers since they might harbour some resent towards Prue for wrecking this place."

"What about the feraltongue kid and all his lovely creatures?" Pamela droned, having had an encounter with the various beasts Lewis had summoned and had not liked them one bit.

"He and his band are with the students. All the witches we could round up have been split among the four groups, although the mutants seemed to be taking it as an insult rather than help." Aidan explained with his eyes glazed over in thought.

"Why?" Leo asked, frowning at the idea of anyone refusing help at a time like this.

Brennan's face contorted as he tried to find the right words to explain, "Mutants are sorta… knock offs of witches, their powers tire out and weaken a lot quicker than a normal witch's does. Thus the resentment, as most mutants think that no matter how much they train, they'll never be as good as real witches…"

Pamela pursed her lips, smiling, "I can think of one psionic redhead who's shot that theory to hell… Emma really was a cut above the rest." She said, now smiling at the memories that were flooding her mind.

"Emma was…" One side of Brennan's mouth flickered with a smile, "I don't think was a witch or a mutant from the start. She was something else." He whispered the last line to himself to no one would hear him.

"Okay!" Pamela suddenly slapped her hands together, rubbing them excitedly, "We don't have time to reminisce… We'll do that after we kick some demon ass!" She grinned, "So, we got four groups and there are six of us including Prue and Dad…" The teen quickly went over the numbers in her head, "We'll go with two to two groups, and one each to the other two."

"Who are going to be the people who are by themselves?" Leo asked, looking around at the other two men for their input, "It should probably be the two strongest, so Prue's a definite with all the power she got from the matriarchs. So…"

"Aidan, you take your soldiers by yourself. It's not as if they'll listen to the rest of us and with your near god status you've got the best chance at surviving without someone to help." Pamela suddenly ordered.

The elemental nodded, expressing his agreement, "Good luck you guys," He smirked, winking at Pamela, "Give'm hell…" Aidan grinned to his future niece, before a torrent of water devoured him and disappeared as quickly as it had came, taking its passenger to wherever he wanted to go.

"Okay, I will go with my Dad, which leaves you guys with the mutants. That okay?" The teen's eyes shifted between Brennan and Leo, who nodded at each other while grabbing the weapons they had collected. They went to leave the hall, before the mutant turned around, holding up the axe in his hand.

"Don't you need anything?" He asked.

Pamela grinned, raising both her fists to reveal thick brass knuckles on them, sharp spikes gleaming on the weapons as the teen held them up proudly, "I think I can take care of myself, but thanks Newbie." She smiled; Brennan had never been able to shake that nickname in the two years he had been in San Francisco.

"Okay. Good luck." Brennan replied, heading back around and walking out of the hall with Leo, making a turn to the right when they reached the end of the corridor and going towards where the mutants were being prepped for battle.

A smirk played on the teen's face as she reached down to the golden heart locket that hung around her neck. Pamela gently released the clasp, opening it fully and unleashing the blinding light the diamond in the centre was now giving off, her slightly pale features now being lit up by the warm glow.

"You better be ready for this…" She whispered into the locket, before letting it drop out of her hand and back to her front and walking out of the Great Hall with a smug look on her face.

* * *

The stream of blue energy struck Piper hard in the chest, throwing her over the large cauldron that still inhabited the room. The harsh noises of wood splintering and glass smashing reached the ears of everyone in the room as the eldest witch landed in a shelf unit filled with potions, her left side crashing into the furniture and falling to the floor in a shower of glass.

Paige rushed to her side, skidding to the floor on her knees and holding her hands above the gash in her sister's head. A brilliant golden glow was released immediately, slowly knitting the wound back together and reversing the blood that flowed from her skull. She whipped her head up, her dark hair flipping to her other shoulder before she called out to her sibling.

"Phoebe!" She screamed, catching her sister's attention as the middle Halliwell spun on her heel, delivering a hard kick to Satanos's chest and hurling him into the side of the pewter cauldron.

"Heal Piper! I'll keep him busy!" Phoebe hollered, turning back to the demon at hand so fast that it looked as if she had just shook her head. Satanos laughed as he sat up, a smirk on his face before getting up to his feet.

"Pitiful. You guys really didn't think this through before coming down here…" He said, arrogance flashing in his eyes as he casually brushed off sawdust that was covering his clothes.

"Oh, trust me, we've thought this through for longer than you can imagine. In fact, we haven't even broken a sweat yet." Phoebe retorted with a smirk of her own, launching another kick at her enemy, only for him to catch her foot with superhuman reflexes. She broke out into a smile as she levitated, still in the demon's hold, and used her free leg to kick him hard in the face, making him let go and letting Phoebe return to the ground in a graceful turn.

Despite the momentary pain pulsing from his jaw, Satanos turned back to the witch with a malevolent smile, his greasy black hair falling over the soulless orbs of his eyes, "You're going to break more than a sweat when I'm done with you…" He growled, a plume of crimson flames bringing forth a blazing fireball in his palm, which he then proceeded to hurl into Phoebe's chest.

The middle Charmed One screamed, and in the explosion caused by the fireball's impact, vanished within the nova and only left a wisp of smoke in the fire's wake. The demon immediately began to scan the room for swarming particles, not wanting to be caught out like the last time he thought he had killed her.

"You're going to have to do better than that!" Phoebe's voice sang merrily. Satanos turned to his left just in time to take the brunt force of the psionic blast that had flew from the witch's forehead. Great pain rushed through his mind as he stumbled back, raising his hands to his temples before taking time to sense the residual magic left from the attack.

"You're not a Charmed One…" He spat, glowering at the witch who had now been joined by her other two sisters. Each of them had inane grins of their faces that didn't suit three women who were facing the toughest battle of their lives.

Piper smirked, "None of us are. We're just a little gift that they sent to you. You'll never find out where they really are…" She said cockily, looking at both her sisters, "I think we've delivered the message, don't you, girls?"

"Definitely." Paige smirked, before locking eyes with their enemy, "They'll get you, you know. You will be dead before midnight… or maybe a little later, it depends on how long it takes you to figure everything out." She winked at him, "Let's go you guys,"

Letting out a primal roar, Satanos launched a fireball that had instantly appeared in his hand. It rocketed towards the youngest sister at an unbelievable speed, but only hit the wall after going through the rapidly dissipating crimson glows that were left as the witches disappeared.

* * *

"How's it going in here?" Pamela asked loudly over the din of chattering students and teachers, all of them rifling through the assorted weapons that had been gathered during the night. Her father turned around, brandishing two usually long athames that he seemed to have grown quite fond of in his fights.

"Uh…" The mortal scratched the back of his head after he deposited the daggers into two holsters around his waist, "They're all a little nervous at the thought of having to use weapons, they'd rather rely on their powers."

Pamela shook her head, "Powers should be a last resort in fighting, magic drains quicker than your body. It's sorta like leaving the best till last. Although after three years at this school, I've seen most of their powers and they're probably better off not wasting their energy trying to use magic." She looked at her father, "How about you? Ready? We're moving out as soon as we get the signal from everyone else."

"Yeah…" Andy nodded uncertainly, "I'm… well, I'm as best prepared as I'm gonna get." He turned towards the large group in the room, "So, just how are we getting everyone into the Underworld?"

"There's some portal device in the basement of school, according to Leo." She explained, "We'll be able to get everyone on pretty quickly so that we have the advantage of attacking first."

Before another word could be uttered, the ground shook, the foundations of what remained of the school groaned from the pressure that was being put upon it. Columns of dust fell from the unstable ceiling, covering a few students and managing to worry everyone with a few seconds. A low rumbling made what was left of windows shake violently in their panes before it all suddenly came to an abrupt stop.

Andy placed a hand on one of the athames perched in his belt, "That can't be good…" He murmured, not wanting to alert the students and teachers to any danger until the time was right.

"Things like that are never good around here…" Pamela hissed back, her eyes narrowing as she scanned the immediate area, "Something's not right." She said firmly, before turning her attention to the hallway, where another sound was reaching their ears.

Shouts, smashes, screams. All were getting closer. The rumbling continued, shaking everyone to their core along with making the weak walls rock and sway from the earth shifting underneath them. Pamela clenched her fists, knuckles turning white under the metallic ones she had on her fingers while Andy whipped out his hands at an incredible speed, deploying the athames from their holsters and preparing to defend his daughter.

And it was then they came. A squad of Leech demons barreled around the corner in the hallway, heading straight for the group of inexperienced warriors. Their roars were deafening, rusty and dull weapons held tightly in their wrinkled fists as they charged, their skinless faces contorted into expressions of blood lust and perverse pleasure at the terror they knew they were causing.

Pamela's face fell as all the colour drained from her features, her clenched fists loosened slightly in fear, "Aw… shit!"

Reacting to the situation immediately and without hesitation, the witch threw out her fist at the first demon that was foolish to confront her, slashing across its cheek with her sharp brass knuckles before landing a blow in between his eyes. Blood spurted violently from the wound before the evil creature was devoured in the cleansing flames, echoing howls of pain left in the fire's wake as the demon was vanquished painfully. Pamela was already covered in blood from the fatal wound she had inflicted.

Her head snapped around, witnessing the struggling members on their side before rushing to their aid immediately. She saw one demon about to bring its sword down on a freshman that she didn't recognize, and, thinking fast, blew out a strong cloud of cryokinetic mist, enveloping the weapon in ice and making it smash into small harmless chunks as it came into contact with its would be victim's shoulder.

The witch ran forward, taking the attacking demon by surprise as she threw her fist into the back of its skull. A nauseating squelching noise was released as Pamela drove the spikes on her knuckles as far into the demon's head as they would go, quickly and roughly wrenching them from the creature's skull and releasing more blood that flew out of the four holes in his head, covering Pamela's shirt with an assortment of blood and various entrails from his head. Flames quickly consumed it, ending the excruciating vanquish that it had endured.

"Um… Okay…" She stuttered, quickly grabbing a weapon on the ground and shoving it into the boy's hands, "You're short and puny, so take cheap shots and run like hell. Got it?" He nodded vigorously, "Alright then! Go stab some backs!"

Andy drove the athame into his enemy's gut roughly, twisting it slowly and painfully before wrenching the dagger from the wound, now gushing with blood. The demon screamed in pain the fatal blow it had suffered, and from the flames that had now devoured it completely, disappearing in a satisfying explosion.

The mortal spun around, hurling one of his weapons towards another demon, where it pierced the creature's neck. It let out a chilling roar as it wrenched the athame from its neck, just in time for vanquishing flames to envelop him completely and only leave the dagger to fall to the ground and a small line of smoke that was blown away quickly. He ran forward, retrieving the sharp object before leaping at another enemy.

* * *

Shalimar leapt from the support beam that she had been balancing on, falling to the floor in her signature feline stance. Her amber eyes blazed with animalistic rage and fury, showing that she was more beast than human at this point. She landed in a crouched position and ran forward, thrusting her fist into a demon's lower back and ripping its spine from its body, causing an instant vanquish and leaving Shalimar with even more blood lust.

Lexa scrunched up her face as she released a searing laser of light from her fingers, immediately striking a demon that was in mid jump on its way to a mutant who had her back to her attacker. The combination of heat and magic reduced the creature to dust instantly, leaving no trace of its existence. The mutant looked around, they weren't prepared for this. All the mutants were already running low on energy and every time a demon was vanquished, two more would replace it, it was a vicious cycle that never seemed to end.

Her train of thought was broken by crackling tesla coil zipping past her ear, striking a demon that she hadn't noticed and causing it to blow up from the pressure on its body. Lexa spun around and was faced with Brennan and Leo, who were already preparing another electrical assault with their respective powers.

"It's about time!" She snapped, quickly making a violent gesture with her arms and releasing a dazzling cloud of light. It stunned a crowd of Leech demons coming towards her and gave the two men the chance to blast them apart with lightning, "This is endless! We don't stand a chance!"

Leo gritted his teeth, hurling out his arm and blowing up another demon with a destructive streak of neon blue lightning, "We need to hold off until the girls vanquish Satanos! They should all disappear after-," He was forced to duck to avoid a stray ball of lime green energy that had been fired by one of the mutants. The sphere hurtled into the wall and somehow caused the marble and stone to age rapidly, reducing it to dust in a matter of seconds, "Damn moleculars…" The Elder grumbled.

"BASTARDS!" The profanity was accompanied with a deep, loud, menacing roar that suddenly tore through the air before a crowd of Leech demons was thrown violently into the air, convulsing as they flew before landing in various part of the hall. Each of them disappeared in plume of flames, leaving Riley standing in the middle of a clear space. His large chest heaved up and down with his breath as his eyes glowed with cold blue fury.

"Jesus Christ…" Lexa gaped, completely stunned by a never before seen display of the ursine feral's true powers.

"Never… _ever_… crowd an angry bear…" He snarled to no one in particular, before going back to taking out demons in a similar gruesome fashion to the way Shalimar was disposing of her enemies. He ran into the heat of the battle, the odd demon being hurled into the air like a rag doll and ending with a small whimper of pain as it died.

Brennan, who had seen this spectacle, sighed and shook his head as he swirled his wrists around, concocting more voltage on the edge of his fingertips, "I knew there was a reason I never liked camping…"

* * *

Satanos appeared within a tower of fire on top of the Golden Gate Bridge. He immediately turned full circle, looking over the area where he had sensed the Charmed Ones. The demon's brow knitted in thought, this was the third time the witches signal had led him to a dead end. They were tricking him, planting parts of their magic in various places and attempting to ware him down slowly, and although Satanos hated to admit it, their traps were taking a lot out of him.

"Now!"

The demon spun around to see the three witches standing on the higher platform of the bridge. Each of them threw a vial from their palms, their faces contorted into ones of concentration before Satanos threw out his hands, gripping the three potions telekinetically and diverting them to the red metal that he was standing on.

But before they could smash on the ground, each vial suddenly dissolved in a flare of ruby light. The evil being's eyes widened, quickly looking up to the Charmed Ones and clenching his fists as they too vanished in a crimson glow.

"_More_ astral simulations…?" He snarled to himself, his eyes growing even wider as he scanned the area for any clues. They would have to have had to come up here to plant the simulations, therefore there had to be a trace of their magic to follow. Satanos narrowed his eyes into slits as he noticed a small funnel of lavender smoke dancing in the air on the higher platform, where the fake Charmed Ones had stood.

Crouching slightly, the demon leapt into the air in a feral-like way, landing on the higher red steel with a clang as his iron soled boots connected with the surface. There was a small vase-like sitting on the ground, purple plumes of smoke floating upwards from it, he recognized it from somewhere. He knelt down, examining the carvings on the terracotta vase before suddenly realizing what it was. Illusion smoke.

But before he could do anything about it, the violet toxin had invaded his nostrils and had began to intrude on his mind, seeping into every crevice to find its target, and from what Satanos could see from the markings, this particular brand of illusion smoke had been designed to prey on the victim's greatest fear. As he expected, the haunting chants of the Charmed Ones reached his ears. He dreaded to look up, but he had to if he wanted the illusion to end.

The three witches stood in front of him, each of them soaked from head to toe in blood with sinister looks on their faces as they said a vanquishing spell that Satanos couldn't make out. He dropped to knees, knowing that they were covered in all the blood that he had spilled during his existence. Then it started, the searing pain in the centre of his chest spread outwards, enveloping him in jade coloured flames as he knelt on the floor, silently begging for mercy before his vision was covered in the deep green fire. There was a thunderous explosion; all he could see was black, until his normal vision returned.

The pain was gone, along with the blood soaked witches and vanquishing flames that he had barely endured. Gritting his teeth, he brought his fist down on the vase, shattering it violently and releasing a weak wisp of purple smoke before nothing was left. He stood up, taking a deep breath and suddenly spinning around, his eyes completely black with anger.

"WHERE ARE YOU?" He screamed in a deep voice that dripped with black magic, before vanishing in a column of searing hot orange flames that seemed to be even more intense than the fire he had arrived in.

* * *

"Remind me why we decided to take courtyard duty!" Cassy voiced her annoyance loudly before pushing three demons back with an invisible telekinetic force. In some aspects, mutant telekinesis was better than the real witch's version, as it didn't require gestures. Only a strong will and powerful mind were needed.

Jesse rolled his eyes, pushing his fists against one another and releasing a frigid blast of thermal energy from his body, encasing the five demons in front of him in thick layers of frost and ice, before releasing a roasting hot thermal blast and reducing the creatures to puddles of red water on the blood stained ground. "Because we got stuck with the job nobody wanted, again!" He groaned, taking in a breath and phasing to make an enemy pass right through him. Cassy spun on her heel, narrowing her eyes just a little and throwing the demon into the air with her powers. There was a terrible crunching noise as the creature was impaled on the sword of a large statue, causing an instant vanquish in an intense fire.

"Everybody, push forward!" The telekinetic bellowed to the battling mutants, "We can't afford to lose any more territory! Beat them ba-!" She was cut off abruptly, her mouth gaping before Cassy looked down, her eyes widened as she saw a waterfall of blood trickling down from her abdomen. The mutant's eyes rolled to the back of her head before she suddenly collapsed to the ground.

Jesse gritted his teeth, forming a fist that was quickly covered in knitted deep orange lines as he massed out and throwing the balled palm into a demon's chest. The evil being was thrown back from the force of the blow and fell onto the point of one of its comrade's swords, devoured in the cleansing fires before vanishing in a blast of heat. "Cass!" He bolted to his teammate, falling to his knees in front of her, not knowing what to do.

Cassy looked up, her eyes dark with determination as she tried to block out the pain from the stab wound, "Don't you… _dare_… stop for me…" She growled, "I just… need to play dead for a few minutes…" She insisted, resting her head back on the ground as Jesse watched her back rise and fall with her slow breathes before leaping to his feet and returning to the fight.

* * *

Prue frowned darkly, lacing her fingers together in a tight mesh before turning her hands outwards towards the platoon of demons that were charging at her, taking advantage of the large empty space that deceased witch's last attack had created. Energy rippled in the air in front of her palms, a white shimmering light began to form, before an unbelievable amount of power burst forth into a beam of angelic light. Every demon it hit was vaporized immediately, while every valkyrie and centaur it hit was left completely unharmed.

War cries were erupting from everywhere around the hall. Valkyries, who had been trained for a fight such as this, were disposing of their enemies in a most elegant way, their legs dancing a lethal ballet as they jumped into the air to assault their enemies violently, returning to their serene composure for one second before reverting back to the fierce warriors that they truly were.

The centaurs were taking a less beauteous approach. Charging through their enemies and crushing them with their hooves was one strategy, while trying to take out as many of the demons who had avoided their feet by swinging their lances and spears above their heads and bringing them down on the unsuspecting creature who was unfortunate enough to meet with the half man-half beast's weapon.

Suddenly, three streams of neon blue light erupted from the large doorway. Prue couldn't see what the cause was, but the light immediately shot down at an incredible rate, instantly destroying any demons that it hit and moving like a snake in the battlefield as it searched for more enemies. The witch shook her head when she saw Aidan charge through the crowd, holding the Trident of Poseidon and twirling it around majestically as he butchered as many evil beings as he could along the way.

"Need any help?" He asked, grinning in a similar way to Andy and making Prue realize what had probably initially sparked her youngest sister's attraction for the elemental. His smile.

"Shouldn't you be helping or leading your soldiers?" She spat, turning around and releasing a sphere of white light from her palm at a demon that had attempted to attack her from behind. Thanks to her heightened powers, she had been able to pre-empt it quickly and reduced the demon to a pile of ash immediately.

"They've been trained well, unlike most of the people in this fight!" Aidan shouted back, stabbing his enemy in the chest with the three prongs of his trident, before pulling it back roughly and assaulting another demon with the large spike on the bottom end, "I thought you might need some help since you and me are alone!" He explained, quickly creating a circle of deadly icicles around his wrist before hurling them at more evil beings.

"Thanks for the concern, but…" She flicked her wrist at a sword on the ground, sending it hurtling into the chest of the demon that was about to attack Aidan from behind. The elemental turned around just in time to see the flames consume his would be killer and take him to the other side in a small explosion, "I think you need my help more than I need yours." Prue smirked, her smugness vanishing when a frigid glowing icicle flew past her ear. She turned around, seeing a demon scream in pain before being dispatched into darkness by the sharp weapon that had been thrown.

"You sure about that?" Aidan grinned at her again, "Why don't we make this interesting?" He suggested, "Kill counter back to zero, whoever has the most kills by the time this is over gets…"

"My blessing to marry my sister." Prue smiled at his surprised expression, "You'd be amazed how a big sister finds out things. If you win, you get my blessing, if you lose, then you're going to need to put up with me glowering down at you from up there." She smirked, before launching another white energy ball from her palm, blasting a demon into oblivion, "One to me!" She grinned, beginning to run back into the fight, "Oh, and one more thing. I _don't_ like to lose."

* * *

Satanos flamed into the dank chamber. This strategy was beginning to ware thin, even by the Charmed Ones' standards. His eyes were still darkened by the black magic that threatened to override his rational thought as he scanned the area. He was going to kill them. Slowly. Brutally. Painfully, kill them. The demon frowned as he stepped forward; he refused to be tricked again. He went to take another step, but abruptly came to a stop mid-stride, something wasn't right.

The evil being raised his hand to his face, igniting a bright fireball within his palm and illuminating the chamber with a pale orange glow. Fortunately for him, his slightly enhanced vision allowed him to use this light to see everything clearly. Satanos' features contorted with anger as he saw what was right in front of him, how had they done this?

Before him lay a grid of metal pipes, but he could tell it was something a lot more than that after scanning it with vision that allowed him to sense magic. It was the most intricately planned trap yet, and a smile spread across his face then he realized that they wouldn't catch him out.

From what Satanos could tell, it was some sort of binding field, and a powerful one at that. It looked as if it had been designed especially for him, to hold and bind his magic away along with himself into another realm. He grinned, having fond memories of when witches of old would use meager versions of this in an attempt to stop him; he should have guessed that the Charmed Ones would be the witches to create one with enough power to…

His soulless eyes widened as he finally realized there the three sisters had been hiding all along. They would want to go to somewhere where they were in control, where they had the power, the upper hand. The demon almost laughed at his own stupidity, before letting out a chuckle and flaming out, knowing full well where he was going to find his prey.

* * *

Pamela delivered another lethal blow to the demon that she had been fighting in the classroom. The witch dove over the desk it had knocked her over and delivered a solid uppercut to his chin with the spikes on her knuckles, sending it flying into the wall just as it became swathed in flames, blowing up as soon as it hit the wall and leaving a blackened scorch mark on the already damaged marble. It was at this point she noticed that the fight had somehow led her into an empty classroom, she was completely alone.

"My, my, it's a shame we never got to meet before. I really would have liked to go a few rounds with you."

She turned around, regarding the stranger with suspicion. He was dressed in turquoise armour from head to toe, much like the uniforms of the Atlantian soldiers, except from the fact that it looked severely dented, as if it had been a lot of battles. There were three punctures in the tough metal chest plate, making Pamela remember the descriptions Paige had told her about the demonic Atlantian General.

"It's Kahn, right?" She played coy, walking slowly towards him and tightening one of her fists until her knuckles were a ghostly white while the other hand gripped tightly to the locket around her neck, which was still glowing fiercely.

"I'm glad I'm so famous with the Prince's in-laws." He said, smirking as he drew a long sword from its sheath on his belt, relishing the sliding noise it made as metal was separated from leather.

She cocked her head, "Didn't your mother ever teach that notoriety is a bad thing? Although I'm guessing she did a pretty crap job considering you're a pathetic washed up soldier who's on his second life." Pamela spat, making a flicking gesture with her hand and trying to take the sword from Kahn's hand telekinetically. The sword began to move, but he gripped it tightly, slowing its already gradual escape and reclaiming it.

"It's resilient to the kiddy party tricks of witches…" He smirked, "And you're about to learn that first hand." The warrior ran forward, his sword raised above his head and ready to deal a fatal blow.

Pamela smirked, raising the locket slightly to her lips, "Go for it…" She whispered, before holding the piece of jewelry back out towards her enemy. There was a bright flash before a brilliant stem of neon yellow lightning flew from the diamond in the centre of the locket. The intensity of the blast made Pamela slide back on the floor a few centimetres before the monstrous assault collided with Kahn. His eyes widened in disbelieve before the lightning threw him across the classroom, hurling him into the scorch mark the demon's vanquish had left behind and leaving a dent in the marble.

"Well, it's about time I got some frickin' action on this side!" Persia Halliwell's voice streamed from the locket, "Not that I haven't enjoyed the movie from here, you should have warned me about the graphic violence though." The witch shivered as she thought of the brutality of Pamela's vanquishes.

Pamela rolled her eyes, smiling as she saw that her enemy was still recovering from the attack, "Oh sure, crack all wise when you're nowhere near the danger. I'd like to see you here in my place!"

"Well, it certainly looks more entertaining living it than watching it." Persia shot back, "Anyway, bitch and brag later, kill that medieval reject already!"

"Wow, violence really gets you riled up… Lunatic." Pamela smirked, before returning to her fighting stance as Kahn stood up, summoning his fallen sword back to his hand and bearing his teeth at the witch, "Down, dog." She quipped.

"DIE!" He bellowed, running toward her at supernatural speed and crashing into her front. The locket was torn from Pamela's neck, the glow from the diamond instantly snuffed as the golden heart snapped shut, falling to the floor as the teen hit the wall, falling to the ground and losing her metal knuckles on the way down. They slipped from her fingers and were lost under wreckage.

"Now that's just… _rude_!" She snapped, bouncing to her feet and running at her enemy. She raised a hand to her mouth, inhaling a breath before releasing a cold mist of frost at Kahn. The cyrokinetic energy was about to connect until he suddenly shimmered out, leaving nothing but ripples in the air.

"Pam! We need you out here!" Andy shouted, running through the door and towards his daughter, who turned around to warn him about the danger as he stood in front of her. Pamela was about to open her mouth, but Kahn shimmered back in while her back was turned, throwing his sword forward and ready to pierce the witch's side. Andy thought fast, grabbing his daughter by the shoulders and throwing her to the side just as the sword was about to run her through. The mortal gaped in pain as the blade puncturing his abdomen, blood gushing the wound immediately as Kahn roughly yanked his weapon from the man's side.

"NO!" Pamela screamed, crawling feverishly to her father as he fell to the ground, blood now creeping out from the corner of his mouth as his head struck the floor. Immediately, she began to call for anyone who could help, not noticing the lime green portal open up in the doorway of the classroom. "LEO! AIDAN! PAIGE! ANYBODY!"

"They… can't hear… you…" Andy spluttered out, "They're… overwhelmed with… the… fighting…"

"No, no, no, no, no, no…" She rambled quietly as she gripped her dad by the shoulders, cradling his head as tears rolled her cheeks, not aware of the fact that Kahn was about to bring his sword down in her head. He too, had failed to notice the girl now striding from the portal.

"I… I… l-ove… y-," He didn't finish his sentence, death taking him quickly and letting his head roll from Pamela's blood soaked hands. She continued to sob into his rapidly cooling chest before noticing Persia standing in the doorway with an uncharacteristic look of sheer rage on her face.

Wordlessly, the otherworldly witch raised both hands. There was a crackling noise, Persia's golden brown hair began to blow about in her face before she produced more voltage than she ever had, the jet of yellow lightning almost overwhelming its creator as a trickle of blood seeping from her nose. The cataclysmic attack struck Kahn loudly, as if it was a thunder clap. He screamed violently as the attack scorched and burned away his flesh, before vaporizing him completely and reducing him to a pile of dust on the floor.

Persia walked towards her bawling friend, her eyes becoming glassy at the sight before her, "I got worried when the locket went offline…" She knelt down, managing to wrench Pamela away from her father's corpse and allowing her to weep into her shoulder, "I am _so_ sorry…" She whispered.

Their moment was broken by the sudden outburst of never ending crackles coming from the main hall; the anguished screams of demons accompanied them. Persia frowned, slowly pulling her distraught friend to her feet and guiding her out of the classroom, gasping at what she saw on the main battlefield.

The ceiling was completely covered grey creatures that were moving around at an alarming rate. Even more of them were streaming through the various holes in the building as energy ball after energy ball flew from the beings' hands, vanquishing the demons instantly and decimating their ranks in a matter of seconds. Both witches ducked as the creatures flew past them, spreading out to the other parts of the school to finish off the rest of the demonic army.

They were gargoyles.

* * *

"Okay…" Piper began, lightly tapping her fist off the palm of her hand as she paced, "We're only going to have one shot of this, so we need to be prepared. Is everything in place?" She turned to her youngest sister, who rolled her eyes and sighed.

"Well, it was all in place five minutes ago when you asked me to go check out everything…" Paige snapped, "So unless the house has been turned upside down without us realizing, I think it's all still going to be where it should be."

The eldest Halliwell gave her a look, "Is it so wrong to want everything to go right? Pheebs, what did your last premonition show you? You know, that one you forced?" Piper raised an eyebrow at Phoebe, who was sitting at the kitchen table.

"It was an incantation on the book, for Gods sake!" The middle Charmed One exclaimed, standing up from the table, "And he had found the binding field then flamed out, I don't know what happened after that, so unless I get another premonition… We wait." She finished flatly, putting her hands in her back pockets.

"How long do you think it's gonna take for him to figure out we've been in the Manor this whole time?" Paige asked, now picking at her cuticles and exchanging nervous looks with her siblings.

"Oh, not long."

The three of them spun around as their hearts began to race. Satanos stood in the doorway that led to the back yard, his black eyes narrowed into slits as he grinned manically at the witches, all three wearing determined looks on their faces after recovering from the initial shock.

"Took you long enough." Piper sneered.

He smirked at her, "Oh, come on. You ladies need to give yourselves more credit. I shouldn't have expected anything less from the long prophesized Charmed Ones. I can understand why you'd want to fight where you're the strongest. Hiding in plain sight… So simple, yet so effective."

"Oh _stop_…" Paige droned sarcastically, rolling her eyes and giving the demon a look as if he had lost his mind.

"If you insist…" He shrugged, subtly creating a blazing fireball in his palm as he did, still smirking oddly at the three witches as they stared him down. Satanos threw back his arm before hurling it forward along with the flaming sphere, sending it straight to Piper. But she had been prepared, as the witch took in a quick breath, covering herself in criss-crossing orange cracks and massing out. The fireball bounced off Piper's magical armour, rebounding to Satanos and combusting on his shoulder, making him stumble back into the washer.

"Run!" Piper shouted. The three women turned on their heels, heading for the dining room as fast as they could go and hoping they would get to the attic before Satanos recovered.

"I'm tired of games…" He growled, getting up and running after them with a glint of murderous desire in his eyes as he bolted out of the kitchen. His eyes darted around the main part of the house, looking for his prey before the three of them suddenly faded into view, taking advantage of Piper's invisibility power of conceal them all for a short period of time.

Paige raised her arm, "Vase!" She screamed, gesturing to the vase on the dining room table and causing it to fly at Satanos in a cloud of orbs, reappearing at the last second to smash over the demon's skull. He groaned in pain and fell into the mantelpiece.

But it wasn't over yet. He conjured another fireball, grinning at his three targets before releasing it with even more force behind than the last one, but it was quickly stilled with a flick of Piper's wrist as she froze it in place, halting its movement completely. It hovered in the air for a moment, before Phoebe narrowed her eyes and used her telempathy to channel the assault back towards it owner. The fireball blew up as it collided with the demon's chest, making him stumble back a few more paces and letting the girls escape to the stairs.

"No!" He snarled, throwing a fireball at the banister and reducing part of the stairwell to a smoldering piece of wood that crashed to the foyer, destroying the table that stood in the middle, "I'll get you…" He narrowed his eyes, before disappearing in a raging tower of fire.

"Hurry!" Phoebe urged her sisters to the Book of Shadows, which rightfully rested on its altar in the attic. The three of them stood behind it, taking each other's hands and preparing for what was to come. As expected, Satanos raised the temperature greatly as he flamed in with fury, staring at the Charmed Ones before throwing out both his arms and unleashing two powerful jets of blue fire from his palms, illuminating his face in a ghostly blue.

Their grip on each other's hands tightened as they chanted, "The Power of Three will set us free… The Power of Three will set us free… The Power of Three will set us free…" A multi-coloured bubble shield erected in front of them, halting the blue flames in their tracks as they attempted to break through the barrier that was being caused by one of the most powerful magical forces in the world.

Satanos eventually gave up, dropping his arms and taking deep breaths. The trials that they had put him through during the day had weakened him greatly, and he was barely able to keep a steady footing as he swayed on the spot. "You can't stop me…" He growled weakly.

"No?" Phoebe questioned rhetorically with an eyebrow raised, glaring at the demon that had taken the lives of two of their loved ones in the past year.

"Watch us." Piper finished strongly, silently nodding to Paige who turned her attention to the five coal black crystals that lay on top of the dresser. They all took one final look at their foe before Phoebe deployed the spell from her pocket.

"Dark matter, circle." The youngest Charmed One ordered, gesturing at the five crystals and waving her arm at Satanos and making the dark matter vanish in a swirl of white and blue lights and making it reappear in the same fashion, surrounding the demon as blood red bolts flew from each stone, connecting at the top and trapping him. Paige looked to her right, staring down at the spell in Piper's hand as she and her sisters began to chant.

"Sister witches, we beseech thee,

Lend your strength, to we three,

So our Wiccan message, we may send,

To give this evil a grisly end!"

It began again, just like in the dream the illusion smoke had concocted. A searing pain spread outwards from his chest as they repeated the spell over and over, calling upon the power of all witches to vanquish him. Satanos fell to his knees, holding his agonizing chest as he did, before feeling jade green flames lap and scold his flesh through his clothes. The green fire underneath him became stronger and stronger before the pain was unbearable. There was a thunder-like noise as the explosion set off, shattering the dark matter cage and sending the Charmed Ones to the floor from the shockwave that had been released, it went on to smash all the windows of the top floor before it finally came to a stop. There was silence. Satanos was gone.

Paige stared coldly at the small flickering green flame left in the centre of the crystals. Her eyes began to well up with tears as she looked into the hypnotic dance the small fire was performing. She gulped before frowning intently and letting out a relieved sigh.

"That was for Grant and Emma…"

* * *

Woo! Ding dong! The demon's dead! Haha, well, I hope that was worth the long wait. And just in case anyone's confused, the gargoyles coming out of nowhere to win the battle for them will be explained in the next chapter, although it does involve a certain gargoyle by the name of Arc… ;) All the other things will be explained too, don't worry!

**NEXT TIME- UNITED AS THREE, FINAL CHAPTER:** Brennan and Pamela prepare to leave the family for both career and education. The truth about the force that possessed Brennan and Phoebe is revealed, leaving the Charmed Ones with a foe who is beyond their powers and who wants to take Connor from his mother. Will the sisters prevail over this enemy? Or will Phoebe loose her son forever?

Chapter 40 **"The Child Before The Storm"** should be up soon!


	40. The Child Before The Storm

Well, here it is. The end of the story, but like the last story, I want to know what your favourite chapter was! Was is the final battle with Satanos? When Paige and Aidan got back together? Phoebe's brush with the dark side? Or maybe this chapter you're about to read right now! I want to know!

Princess Pinky - Lol, I'm glad that my story as in demand! And yes, I need to read the finale for your story! Go and get a sledge hammer and break through that writer's block! And yeah, I wanted to include Max, but I really couldn't include him in the previous chapter, as he just didn't seem to fit anywhere. Lol, I knew you'd like the inclusion of Persia! And I knew that you'd love it even more that she vanquished Kahn and saved Pam. I'm glad you liked everything, and I had to include some of the Season 7 finale in it. No matter what anyone says, I thought it was still a decent episode. Here's the final chapter!

Prince Halliwell – Thanks! And yeah, I know I'm horrible for killing Andy, but it's the way the story had to go. I wanted to include something about Satanos's vanquish being for Grant and Emma. He did kill them after all, and Emma's thing will be explained in the sequel, which isn't that far off now!

ColePhoebe4eva – Yeah! This chapter is mostly about Connor! I'm so glad you like the chapter, and sorry, but Brennan does leave :( but he comes back now and again when he can away!

Phoebe turner – Ah yes, but the future changes with every decision we make, so the vision that Phoebe had at the start of the series has probably changed drastically!

Chyp – Thanks!

Ravenix – Lol, I knew you would love the astral simulations coming back! I'm glad you liked everything!

**The Child Before The Storm**

"So what did this demon even look like?" Paige asked, sitting back down in a car seat that had been torn from a vehicle and dumped in scrap yard. The youngest Charmed One sighed, resting her elbows on her knees and propping up her head with her hands, "I mean, I know Phoebe only saw it in monochrome and all, but still…"

Piper turned around, surveying her sister who was obviously bored. She couldn't blame her, as they had been waiting in this scrap yard for over an hour now with no sign of the creature. The witch let out a languid breath, "Uh… Big teeth, glowing eyes, scaly…" She paused to yawn, "Basically the average bestial demon, we can handle it by ourselves. Phoebe should be spending all her time with Brennan and Connor right now, making use of what time they have left as a family."

"I know." Paige replied, rolling her eyes, "Don't worry, I'm about to launch into a tirade about her not helping us… I just wish I could have some time with my family right now, that's all. You know, before I become an old married lady."

Her big sister's eyes widened as she laughed, "We've been demon free for a month now, I would have thought that was plenty family time. And I don't really see you or Aidan becoming stereotypical married people, trust me." Piper assured her, turning back to keep an eye on any moving objects. "Besides, you're not the only one who wants to be home right now, I've got my own dramas to take care of."

"Like what?" The witchlighter droned in a cynical tone, "Pam leaves for New York at the end of the summer; I would have thought that the boys would be more than happy at finally getting separate rooms. Especially after witnessing the tantrums they decided to have when they found out that Lorna, the youngest in the family, had the biggest room in the house after yours and Leo's."

"Yeah, I know, but Wyatt's kicking up a fuss about having to go into the first grade at a mortal school." Piper sighed, shaking her head.

"Did you tell him that he has his dear Aunt Prue to thank for that?" Paige smirked, relishing in the fact that her eldest sister, the fabled perfect one of the four siblings had screwed up. Big time.

"No, and he will not be hearing it from any other member of his family, that clear? Missy Paige?" Piper raised a skeptical eyebrow, earning a sigh from her younger sister before she nodded her head in agreement. The eldest witch blinked a few times before frowning, "God… Listen to us talking about marriages and kids. We're getting _older_!" She suddenly exclaimed.

Paige snickered in response, "Well, I'm glad you finally noticed! I thought that the dementia had finally got you in your old age." She retorted with a smirk while Piper shot her a glare.

"Bite me." She snapped, folding her arms in mock annoyance and tapping her foot impatiently on the ground. Paige was about to reply, before her focus shifted to something behind her sister. Her mouth hung open as she turned Piper around by the shoulder.

"Um… I think I'll decline…" She whispered, referring to Piper's remark, "But I think that guy may be a little less unwilling to tear you apart with his teeth."

She pointed out to a silhouette on top of a pile of scrap metal. It was almost glowing in the moonlight as it arched its back, howling towards the sky. The scales that Piper had described were shimmering with a shocking blue, while the howl that the creature was letting out sounded as if it was crackling with electricity. The wolf-like demon suddenly leapt from the scrap pile and out of their sight, howling loudly as it vanished.

"Well, he's certainly not worried about exposure…" Piper whispered, linking her arm with Paige's and dragging her reluctant sister along with her, "C'mon, let's follow…" She whispered, treading carefully on the dirty ground and going in the direction the demon had disappeared in.

The creature prowled slowly down the heap of metal, padding softly and masterfully as it snuck up on its prey, who seemed to be a rather unfortunate man who was in charge of letting in the trucks that dropped off the scrap. He was in the midst of eating a sandwich as he stood outside a small booth, taking another bite of his food and a draw of his cigarette, blowing smoke into the night air. The monster suddenly bounded into the air, letting out a blood curdling screech as it descended on its prey, who noticed the beast just in time to let out a scream of his own. Until it was cut short abruptly.

The beast demon suddenly slowed its drop, landing gracefully in front of its victim. The man had come to a standstill; the smoke wafting from his cigarette had even halted in mid-air. His mouth was wide open as he was in mid-scream, his eyes scrunched up in fear as he prepared for what was to come. Confused, the creature took a step forward to investigate further, only to be stopped in its tracks as the ground shook underneath it before small fissure in the ground blocked its path to the frozen innocent.

"Wow, it must be pretty dumb to hesitate against a frozen innocent." Piper quipped, clasping her hands once again after having held them above the ground, obviously after she had used her geokinetic powers to disrupt the creature's movements.

It turned around, regarding the two witches with its electrically charged eyes before letting out a piercing roar. Piper and Paige winced at the sound, the witchlighter's hands going straight to her ears in a vain attempt to block out the shrill noise. Finally giving up on trying to block out the sound that was giving her a rapidly growing migraine, Paige gestured at a rusted car door amidst the junk, her voice inaudible over the roar as the vehicle part was encased in a flurry of orbs that flew straight for her enemy. The shriek subsided as the door struck the creature's side, the two of them sighing in relief as they brought her hands down from the sides of their heads, until their eyes widened in horror at what they were seeing.

The car part had halted inches away from the four legged beast's scaly armour. Each plate began to shimmer with a mechanical glow before the door was devoured in a streak of white lightning that shot from its body. The piece of metal slowly began to disintegrate under the electrical pressure, its particles slowly flowing into the creature through unseen gaps underneath its scales. The entire being hummed with voltage, giving off a blue aura before turning to two of the three Charmed Ones.

"That can't be good…" Piper murmured, frowning at the gaping creature.

"That's _definitely_ not good!" Paige emphasized, watching as a sphere of crackling blue-gold energy began to form between the animal's jaws. Stray bolts of electricity were firing from the ball, striking various pieces of rusted equipments and reducing them to a fine dust before the energy suddenly flew from its mouth.

Both sisters were caught off guard by the speed at which the attack traveled. It struck the two of them simultaneously, throwing them into the air and blasting them back a good few yards before they hit the ground roughly. Paige coughed from the rough landing, rubbing off the dust that was on her jacket sleeve.

"It was an 'Average bestial demon' you said… 'We can handle it by ourselves' you said… Still thinking that now, sis?" She spat, grabbing Piper by the elbow and aiding her to her feet before turning her turn back to the fight.

"Yeah, yeah…" Piper replied, her eyes widened as the beast fired off another electrical charge from its throat. She raised her hands in front of her face, letting out a yelp and halting the sphere immediately with her freezing power. The witch opened her eyes slowly, before yanking Paige with her as she moved to the side as the sphere unfroze. It hurtled into the side of a rusting dumpster, reducing it to a cloud of ash.

"Orb the innocent out!" The eldest witch ordered, making Paige roll her eyes as she gestured at the frozen man while saying a quick command. He vanished in a swirl of blue and white lights, landing somewhere Paige hoped was safer than here.

The creature opened its mouth again, a steadily growing ball of energy resting in between two rows of ferocious teeth. It was thrown back itself when the sphere was released, heading towards the witches for a third assault, before Paige threw out her arms and roughly veered them to the right, taking the energy with her movements telekinetically and sending it into another pile of scrap. Piper quickly took her sister's hand, inhaling a short breath and covering her and Paige in criss-crossing orange cracks, massing them both out and letting the scrap that had been disturbed by the blast bounce harmlessly off their density heightened persons.

"Okay, we need Phoebe for this. It's too powerful," Paige said strongly so her elder sibling would know not to argue. Holding out her free hand, she glared at the demon, "Scale!" The witchlighter yelled, attempting to summon part of the demon's being.

Orbs began to surround a shimmering blue scale before they fizzled out abruptly with the movement of the creature, who roared savagely from the pain of having part of his hide almost removed. It began to run towards the sisters, leaping into the air with its teeth bared before it was halted with a flicking Piper's wrist, saliva frozen in mid-drop from the being's mouth.

"Uh… Okay, try it again. And this time, try a little harder, will you? I'd like to not be mauled for Brennan's big send off," Piper snapped, regarding her little sister with a skeptical eyebrow.

Paige sighed and shook her head in annoyance, before holding her hands out and resuming the position she had taken before the beast had been frozen, "Please work this time… Scale!"

The shimmering plate of blue obediently vanished in a swirl of orbs, reappearing in the witchlighter's hand. The movement however, had caused the freeze to ware off and the creature to continue its lethal leap towards the two. Paige, thinking fast, grabbed Piper's hand tightly and promptly baled them out in a cloud of orbs that flew towards the sky, letting the creature fly through the haze of lights and skid along the ground.

* * *

"Okay, where are they?" Piper snapped, shifting her sleeve back over her watch and smiling politely at a quite rotund woman who had just bumped into her with the large back slung on her shoulder, obviously planning to use it for hand luggage.

"Well, they better hurry, because the plane leaves in like…" Paige leaned over in the long couch that was intended for travelers, yanking at her eldest sister's wrist and checking her watch, "Ten minutes!" She lent back under Aidan's arm, letting it drape over her shoulder, "I'm sure it's nothing to worry about. They're husband and wife who aren't going to see each other for months. I know what I would be doing…"

Aidan bent his head down slightly, whispering in her ear, "And what exactly would that be?" He made, suppressing the smirk on his face as he kissed the area behind Paige's ear, making her whimper slightly.

"Keep that up and you'll find out…" She said huskily, turning in her sitting position and locking into a passionate kiss with her lover while Piper rolled her eyes and continued to pace around.

"You think I could get an air sickness bag for this portion of the entertainment?" Piper quipped, turning away from the couple and smiling as she noticed Leo skulk from the bathroom, he had orbed in after taking Pamela to where she was going. "Finally! What took you so long?"

Leo raised an eyebrow, "You know Pam. It took her ages to get completely ready, and she forgot something and…" He rolled his eyes, "It just took longer than I thought, but I'm here before Brennan and Phoebe." The elder looked around with a frown, "Where… Are they, anyway?"

Paige opened her mouth and was about to respond before Piper whipped her head around, shooting a warning glare at her younger sister as she knew what the witchlighter's retort would be. "We don't know…" She narrowed her eyes as she looked over Leo's shoulder before breaking out into a smile, "Well it's about time!"

Brennan and Phoebe were maneuvering through the crowd. Connor was practically attached to his mother's hip as the middle Charmed One was holding on so tight to her two year old son, afraid of losing him in the crowd, or perhaps she was wanting to hold onto anything that reminded her of her husband.

"Hey!" She greeted her siblings and their significant others brightly, "We got held up at the house, and then I had to practically beg the woman at the desk to let me and Connor come this far. Passengers only apparently…" Phoebe explained. "Although one look at my little guy's sad face melted her heart…" She smiled through her woe at Connor, passing her hand over his cheek and kissing his temple.

Piper's eyes widened in disbelieve, "Are you kidding me? You should have just asked us to orb you in, how do you think we got in this far without any so called passenger? Thank God for toilet cubicles or we would never have got in… Although if anyone asks, the Tongue Twosome over there are going to Milan for their honeymoon." The eldest said sourly, shaking her head at Paige and Aidan, who were caught in another lip lock.

Brennan nudged his wife gently, grinning as he lent down to whisper into her ear, "Remember when we used to be like that? Couldn't keep our hands off each other?" He slinked an arm around her waist.

"Um… I definitely remember, since it was actually just this morning…" She whispered back, falling into his embrace as she kept a close hold on Connor, "And trust me, after two or three months in unbearable heat and helping the ill, we'll be like that the moment you come back." She grinned back, nuzzling into his chest and cherishing the moments the three of them had as a family.

"The good old days, huh?" Leo asked rhetorically as he snuck up behind Piper, putting his arms around her waist and pulling her closer, moving her long hair back and gaining access to her neck, "Sharing a house with a teenager and three kids sorta takes the spark out of things…"

"Yeah…" Piper agreed, leaning her head back, "But it's… normal." She admitted, turning her head and catching her husband's lips in a soft yet loving kiss. The two of them almost seemed to melt together. It was the pattern for the three sisters and their men at that point.

With a loud reluctant sigh, Brennan pulled away from his wife and son, "Well, I gotta go. They won't keep that plane waiting forever…" He said sadly. It was now hitting him what he was leaving as his son's expression made it hard for him to suppress his tears. Deciding he would save the hardest for last, the mutant walked towards Aidan and Leo, who had both come apart from their loved ones after Brennan's announcement.

"Good luck with marriage." He said, shaking Aidan's hand with a smirk, "And after knowing Paige for two years, I think I can now say that you're going to need all the help you can get!"

The elemental laughed in return, "Ain't that the truth…" He said quietly as Paige had turned to the three men after hearing her name being mentioned for a reason unknown to her, "I've had the bruises on my cheek to prove it." Aidan continued, pointing wryly at his cheek, where the faintest tinge of purple could be seen.

Brennan smiled, "Well, I think you're going to be in pretty good hands when it comes to the whole husband thing. Leo's a pro." He grinned, moving to Leo and shaking his good friend's hand, "Because he certainly helped me at the start, he has known the girls the longest, after all."

"And, I too, have the bruises to prove it." The elder smiled, pulling his friend towards him and patting him on the back, "Looks like it's gonna be back to two against three where we're concerned," Leo said, referring to the fact that he and Aidan were now outnumbered. "Good luck."

"Actually, I have a favour to ask you guys…" Brennan looked down, fiddling with the back strap of the large bag on his shoulder, "I sorta told Connor that if he needed anything that his Mom couldn't provide, he could go to his two uncles. Will you look out for him?"

Aidan and Leo exchanged a serious look, before smiling. The elemental put a hand on his friend's shoulder, "Sure." He replied simply for the two of them. Brennan smiled, shaking each of their hands again and offering thanks before moving onto Paige and Piper.

Brennan stood nervously in front of his two sisters in law, waiting for them to make a move. Eventually, Paige sighed with a smile, walking towards him and pulling him into a hug, forcing Brennan to bend down slightly like he had to do with Phoebe. "You're gonna be missed around here, ya big lug." She said, playfully hitting him the shoulder and smirking.

Piper eyed him curiously, finally un-crossing her arms and pouting her lips, making her brother in law nervous about what she was about to say, "Even though what you're doing is hurting both Phoebe and my nephew, both of whom I love dearly…" She smiled, "I can't help but admire the strength it's requiring to do this, and there's an odd sense of nobility in it, so I can't stay mad at you…" Brennan smiled, but Piper raised a warning finger, shaking it, "But mess my sister around, and so help me, I will not be responsible for whatever part of your body I cause to explode."

Brennan stood, stunned, not sure what to say before pulling Piper into a hug which she didn't expect, "You know, in some odd way, I'm actually going to miss you constantly being on my case." He said with a grin, "Look after Phoebe while I'm gone, okay?" They both nodded, signaling for him to say goodbye to the people that meant the most to him.

"Wow… what inspired _that_?" Paige said to her sister, nudging her slightly for an answer for the unexpected forcefulness she had just displayed.

Piper merely shrugged, "I just modified the speech I gave Aidan when you guys got back together. No one screws around my sisters and lives in one piece to tell the tale. I mean, look where Cole ended up…" The witch replied with a simple yet somehow menacing tone.

"Aw… You threatened my boyfriend because you were concerned about me?" Paige said with a light tone, putting her hand on her heart to show that her gratitude and to show that she was genuinely touched.

Again, the eldest Charmed One shrugged, "Like I said, no one screws around with my sisters." Piper replied, nudging her youngest sibling's shoulder affectionately and smiling cheekily.

Paige returned the shoulder nudge with a warm smile, "Thanks, sis."

Brennan gulped as he stroked his son's hair. Connor was clinging to the collar of his father's t-shirt tightly, refusing to let him go, "You be a good boy for Mommy, okay?" He looked for assurance as he looked into the infant's eyes, "Okay?" Connor protruded a fat lip, glowering at Brennan before nodding slowly. The mutant kissed his son on the top of his head before finally tearing the child away from his t-shirt, causing Connor to sniff from the separation as he was handed back to Phoebe.

Both husband and wife stared at each other for a few moments, Phoebe struggling with Connor as he wriggled on her hip. He knew his father was leaving. Taking a deep breath and pushing back the urge to cry, she put her free arm around Brennan's neck, pulling him into a tight hug, "I love you…" She whispered, tucking her face into his neck as the tears silently rolled down her cheeks.

Brennan swallowed, trying to find his voice, "I love you too." He replied hoarsely, kissing Phoebe's cheek as he pulled away. The mutant gave his family one last look, earning small smiles from everyone before he turned his back on them and began to walk down the long corridor.

The middle Charmed One stood frozen on the spot for a few seconds before suddenly handing Connor over to Piper, "Brennan!" She yelled, running towards her husband as he turned back around just in time catch her as she leapt into his arms, locking her arms around the back of his neck and wrapping her legs around his waist. She ran her hands through his short hair, kissing him deeply as the tears trickling down her face mingled with her lips. "Hurry back… and be safe…" Phoebe whispered, stroking his cheek with the back of her hand before releasing the grip her legs had on his waist and dropping back to the floor.

"I'll be back before you know it…" Brennan promised, lingering on the spot as she held tightly to his hand. Knowing that he had to leave right now, the mutant raised Phoebe's hand to his lips, kissing it before reluctantly letting go and disappearing from sight as he rounded the turn in the corridor.

* * *

Pamela sat in the departure lounge, fanning herself with her ticket even though she was completely comfortable with her temperature. She finally stopped waving it around, pulling out her cell phone from her pocket and checking the time on the screen before shoving it back into her jeans. The young witch let out a sigh of frustration and ran a hand through her dark locks before she felt a hand on her shoulder, making her freeze up in fear.

"Are you alright, honey?"

The woman that had spoke to her seemed to be quite large. The withering white of her hair stuck out against her dark skin. In her other hand, two knitting needles and a woolly unfinished item were held in her pudgy fingers. But even though this woman was a complete stranger, Pamela couldn't help but feel comfortable in this woman's presence, "You seem a little jumpy."

"Me? Oh, no, I'm fine; I'm just trying to make sure some people don't find me." She noticed the woman's raised eyebrows and Pamela's eyes widened, "Oh God, that sounded really shady. It's just…" The teen sighed, "I've left without saying goodbye to some people and… I just want to make sure that they haven't figured out that I've gone…"

The old woman laughed, shaking her head and going back to knitting, "Now why would you go and do a thing like that? I'm sure your family's worried about you…" She made eye contact, "I take that it's family you're leaving?"

"Yeah… but my uncle knew all about it, so he'll tell them before they start freaking out. And if he hadn't found out, I was planning on leaving them a note so… they'll be fine, although maybe a little pissy."

"And…" The woman began, looping her thread around one needle, "Did you ever think that maybe, although you want to avoid saying goodbye, that your family need that closure? And that they love you? Maybe they want to say goodbye…" She set down her belongings, turning to Pamela, "I'm going to nip to the little girl's room, can you look after my needles, dear?"

"Sure." The teen agreed, sighing again as the woman stood up and waddled off the small corridor that led to the bathroom.

It was only a few seconds after she had left when a female security guard suddenly walked up and stood in front of Pamela. She was wearing a simple blue shirt with black trousers with nothing to identify her, apart from the badge on her waist. The woman's bleach blonde hair was tied back into a tight bun as she looked down on the teen.

"Your name Walker?" The security guard asked, chewing her gum loudly.

"Uh… Yeah,"

"Come with me." She snapped, turning on her heel and heading for the corridor in which the old woman had just disappeared down. Pamela frowned, the senses that she had developed from having powers all her life were now going into overdrive as she followed the guard down the thin hallway. Her fists clenched immediately when she saw the old woman standing at the bottom of the corridor, smelling a trap as the security guard joined her.

"Okay, unless this is a big practical joke, airport security doesn't usually work with old knitting women. Who are you, really?" She snarled; folding her arms as the two mysterious women exchanged smiles.

The dark skinned one smiled, "I gave you your chance, honey. You should have gone home and tried to make things right. That way…" A swirl of bright white-green lights enveloped the old woman, illuminating the small hallway. Pamela gasped at the figure that emerged as the lights faded, "You wouldn't have forced us to this." A un-glamoured Piper finished.

"Aw… crap." Pamela gaped, turning to the security guard as she too was devoured in a swathe of swirling lights that left Phoebe standing there with a smirk on her face, "Did Leo tell you?"

"Uh… No, the fact that your entire room was cleared out was a pretty big hint. Leo crumbled after that." Piper explained sassily as she placed her hands on her lips before calling heavenward, "It's clear, Paige!" She shouted.

Pamela groaned and her head drooped as light appeared out of the corner of her eye and Paige's voice hit her ears, "Nice disappearing act you almost pulled, missy. Although not good enough, I'm afraid." The witchlighter commented smugly, making the teen smile as she pictured the triumphant look on her aunt's face.

"Pam, why'd you leave us?"

Her head shot up and immediately Pamela was almost crushed by a wave of guilt that washed over as she looked at the fallen faces of Wyatt and Chris. Both of them looked hurt and betrayed, surveying their big cousin with sad expressions. Chris's green eyes bore into her soul. Pamela smiled, knowing the deep emerald pools were a sign of the psychic ability that she knew her younger cousin would gain through time. Chris, even for a five year old, was so intuitive that she knew he would be kind soul, even without her guidance.

"We may get over you leaving without any notice, but they won't." Piper said coldly.

Pamela sighed, bending down in front of her younger cousins and regarding them both. "You guys, I'm sorry for leaving without saying goodbye…" She glanced up to her three aunts as she spoke before returning her attention to the boys, "It's just that… leaving's making me very sad and I was trying to make sure that I didn't end up crying, because I am going to miss you… Really." She assured them, not being able to crouch like this any longer and falling onto her knees, "You believe me?"

"If leaving's makin' ya sad, why ya going?" Chris frowned, his bottom lip stick out slightly as he couldn't grasp the idea of Pamela leaving when it hurt her to do so.

"Because I have to, honey. So that when you're all grown up and you're in some trouble that you don't want your mom to find out about, you can come stay with me in a nice big house that I've managed to buy with a good paycheck." Pamela explained with a smile on her face, earning a shocked expression from her oldest aunt.

"But of course, you should always come to me or your Dad if you're in trouble, you guys." Piper warned, looking down at her two sons and sighing when she saw the mischievous glint in their eyes that she had come to notice over the years.

"Yeah, that's right!" Pamela said enthusiastically before putting her hand to the side of her mouth and whispering to pretend that Piper couldn't hear her, "But with the really big stuff you know she'll get mad at, you come to me, okay?" She winked, earning grins from her two cousins and making her smile in return.

Wyatt pouted, fiddling with his hands, "… Still gonna miss ya…" The seven year old mumbled, looking up at her from a bowed head.

Pamela stood up to talk to him, as Wyatt had taken a growth spurt recently and was now up to the top of her abdomen, "I know…" She admitted, "I'm gonna miss you guys too… _so_ much." The teen emphasized, before holding out her clenched fist. Wyatt raised his fist to hers, their knuckles bumping off one another gently, "You're the oldest without me around, so you need to look after everyone, okay? That's your job, that's what I trust you to do." She ruffled his hair, "Don't let me down, kid."

The witch was completely taken aback when Wyatt suddenly lunged at her, wrapping his arms around her tightly and nestling his face into her stomach. Pamela pursed her lips; this was the exact thing she wanted to avoid. She blinked a few times, ignoring the fact that water was clouding her vision as she returned the hug as best she could from this height.

When Wyatt finally released her, she swallowed, attempting to return moisture to her throat as she knelt down to face Chris. Without saying a word, she yanked up her sleeve and began to fumble with the clip to her chaos wing bracelet, eventually getting it off and holding it in her hand before putting it into Chris open palm.

"See that?" She pointed to the charm in his hand, "That means that even though I won't be around the house, I will always be with you. This will protect you, so you don't need to be afraid of the monsters in your dreams, okay?" Pamela tapped his nose with her index finger, "And I won't be far, just an orb away."

"Don't go…" Chris whined, his eyes beginning to redden with tears at the thought of his 'big sister' leaving after three years of living under the same roof and looking after him.

"Oh God, I knew you would be the one to set me off…" Pamela smiled wryly, tears barely hanging onto her eyelids as she too, gained red eyes. Without another word, she pulled him closer, wrapping him in her arms in a motherly fashion and hugging him tightly. Chris did his best to return it, his hand clenched around the bracelet that she had just given him.

"_This is the final boarding call for flight 310 bound to John F. Kennedy Airport, could all passengers please have their tickets ready. Thank you." _A woman's voice boomed from the speakers placed around the area before a clicking sound meant that the microphone was being turned off.

"That's my cue…" Pamela sighed, standing up and surveying her aunts, "I'm sorry for not telling you… it's just that-,"

"We know." Piper said, her voice barely above a whispered as a silent tear rolled her cheek, "This little ambush was more for them…" She glanced down at Wyatt and Chris, "Than for us." The eldest witch put an arm around Pamela's neck, hugging her and quietly crying into her niece's shoulder, "You'll visit at the holidays, right?" She asked timidly as Phoebe and Paige joined the hug.

She smiled, "And any weekend I can manage. Like I said to Chris…" The four Halliwell women came apart, each of them crumbling emotionally from the two losses they were suffering this day, "I'm just an orb away if you need me. Whether it be demons or just cause you miss me…"

Paige chuckled, "For our sake, I certainly hope it's mostly the latter."

"Yeah!" Pamela grinned, joining in the small moment of laughter before everything fell silent, "Thank you for everything you've done for me…" She looked down, "I don't… don't know where I'd be right now if it wasn't for the three of you. Give my best to Leo, Aidan, and anyone else I've left out of the loop, okay?"

"Sure." Phoebe replied, being the most grounded at this moment in time as she hadn't known Pamela for as long as her sisters, "You're welcome, by the way. And thank you, for everything you've done for _us_!" She smiled, earning a happy expression from her niece.

The five of them huddled together, looking over Pamela's shoulder one last time before white and blue lights began to gather around them, "I love you guys!" The teen suddenly blurted out, stunning her aunts and making her two cousins beam with joy, "Act astonished later! Now go, because _I_ have to go!" Quickly consenting, the five of them huddled together again as Paige orbed them out, those with free hands giving Pamela a slow wave before vanishing completely.

* * *

Paige bit her lip as she spun the amethyst over the map of San Francisco, holding a piece of the blue scale in her hand as she attempted to locate the demon that she and Piper had battled with the night before. She clicked her tongue out of boredom, shaking her head and halting the circular motion her wrist had been making with the crystal, "I'm getting nothing here." She announced to Phoebe, who was looking through the book, "I think we should try a locator spell."

"No." Phoebe replied flatly, "Let's just stick to the old ways for now. I'm not sure about this book, it's giving me nothing." She said, sneering at a page before flipping it lazily, "At least the other book talked to me…" The witch murmured, looking up to see her younger sister's expression of shock and amusement, "Well, it did! Not so much talk… but I got stuff from it when I used my powers on it. It was a comforting presence, one I could have done with on a day like this."

"I'm sorry, honey…" Paige said sympathetically, "How you holding up?" She asked, getting up and putting a supportive arm around the middle Charmed One's shoulders. "You could probably stay here tonight. Pam's room is free and I'm sure Piper wouldn't mind."

Phoebe shook her head as she bit her top lip, "Nah, I don't want this to disturb Connor, things shouldn't change just because Brennan's gone. I need to keep things as normal as possible." She tried to assure both Paige and herself with this outburst, but failed miserably and turned her attention to Piper walking into the attic, carrying a vial filled with a pasty white substance.

"What took you so long? You know the potion off by heart." Paige inquired, referring to the potion required to vanquish an upper-level demon that rested in her sister's hand.

Piper looked down at the vial, "Oh, I had this all ready about ten minutes ago, but then I saw Arc about to shoot out Pam's window. Apparently, he's flying to wherever Pam's staying now."

"Wait, he knew? Why didn't you yell at him like you did with Leo?" Phoebe frowned, mentally grimacing at the ear bashing her brother in law had received are revealing that he knew of Pamela's plans to skip town without telling anyone.

"I was about to, but then I decided to let him off since he sorta saved our asses a month ago with all his gargoyle friends. We wouldn't have won back Magic School without it. Albeit, it's a total wreck, but Leo's taken the kids with him to see if he can help out. He is the headmaster, after all." The witch explained, pouting a little in irritation at the thought of her children's education disrupted over a silly ban.

"Yeah, Aidan's away too. He took the kids to Atlantis while he takes care of some stuff he didn't mention." Paige growled. She too was quite annoyed at the behaviour of certain parties.

"That reminds me… I should probably relieve the Elvin nanny right now, don't want to have to pay extra." Phoebe sighed, going back to flipping through the book and glancing at the entries. She lay her fingers on the edge of a page, ready to turn it, before a familiar jolt rushed through her body, making her gasp in shock as a premonition assaulted her mind's eye.

_A car drove out the mouth of the Presidio Tunnel. It seemed to be in the late afternoon from what Phoebe could tell, as the glaring white of the sky in her monochrome vision gave away the time. There was a flash, and a streak of unbelievably powerful lightning tore the road apart, causing the car grind to a halt immediately and skid along the ground. Her view was changed to a closer, making Phoebe's ears ring from the screeching the rubber made against the tarmac._

_The view switched again, this time, to the mother and child in the car, both shock white with fear. The woman gripped to the steering wheel as her eyes bulged, before turning into the back seat and stroking her daughter's head reassuringly. But didn't last, for there was another cataclysmic rumble of thunder before the view panned back outside just in time to witness another bolt of lightning to strike from the heavens and vaporize the car, along with all its inhabitants._

The vision ended, and immediately she was met with the back of Piper's hand swiping across her jaw, causing her head to snap to the side. Phoebe turned back with a heated glare before delicately touching her cheek, which was still stinging from her sister's assault.

"What was _that_ for?" She shrieked, causing both Piper and Paige to wince at her tone. "It this just a new habit or have you been slapping Paige too?" Phoebe growled, massaging her cheek.

"Well…" Piper began, "What were we supposed to do? Whatever you were seeing must have been horrible because you just began to scream! Didn't she?" The witch whipped her head around to Paige, who nodded slowly.

"It was nearing supersonic, hence the slap. What did you see?"

"Uh…" Phoebe stuttered, before finally gathering herself, "There's no time. Are you sure that potion will work? Even with just half a scale?" She asked hopefully, wanting to prevent the events of her premonition at all costs.

Piper looked down at the potion in her hand, "It should, I mean, it's still got a piece of the demon in it, I don't think it matters how much there is." She frowned at the middle Halliwell's distant look, "Honey, are you alright? You look a little pale."

"Yeah, I'm fine. Let's go. Presidio Tunnel, that's where my vision took place,"

Paige smirked slightly, raising her eyebrows, "Looks like the book gave you something after all…"

* * *

The three witches materialized out of thin air, a bright cloud of orbs carrying them to the side of the road outside the tunnel. Immediately, Phoebe's eyes began to scan the area, making sure that the car she had seen in her vision wasn't here yet. They still had time to find the demon and vanquish it if the vehicle had not yet arrived. Her brown eyes narrowed, pointing at something on the cliff that sat by the other side of the road.

"There!" She shouted, shaking her arm manically at something moving at the top of the cliff, "That's the demon I saw last night, the one you guys fought, isn't it?" The witch babbled, her finger shivering slightly as the creature came into view, baring its fangs as soon as it saw the Charmed Ones.

"Yeah, that's the bastard." Piper snapped, rubbing her ass slightly as she remembered the pain that had been inflicted the night before, when she had been thrown into the air and landed on a particular obscure piece of metal. "It's its turn to fall on its ass!" Without another word, the eldest witch's face scrunched up as she threw out her hands. The fragile rock at the edge that the beast was standing on exploded into smaller chunks that tumbled down the rock face. It lost its footing, falling from the top and landing in a crumpled heap underneath the boulders that had fell after being disturbed by Piper's blast.

The three of them ran across the surprisingly desert road, standing in front of the pile of boulders that kept the creature contained, knowing it wouldn't stay down for long. The rocks shifted, before they all burst outwards towards the sisters. Piper grabbed her sisters' hands, taking in a breath and reducing their forms to a mass of loose particles, allowing the large stones to pass right through all three phased persons harmlessly.

The demon had leapt into the air, and was taking a nosedive back down towards the witches. Instead of aiming straight towards them, it threw itself down on the ground to them, the resulting shockwave throwing the Charmed Ones backwards and landing on the road behind them.

"Piper, the potion!" Paige screamed as the four legged beast roared a war cry as it galloped towards them.

Suddenly remembering that they had a way to vanquish it, the eldest Charmed One shoved her hand into her jean pocket, yanking out the potion and hurling it towards their advancing enemy. But all three of their faces fell when the vial smashed against the being's hide, doing no damage and vanishing in a pathetic wisp of smoke.

"Halt."

The creature came to a grinding stop at the mechanical voice. It bowed its head respectfully at the three, confusing Piper and Paige before realizing that Phoebe was standing with her hand held out in a stop gesture, an eerie blue glow could be seen exuding from her eyes even from the ground. The two witches scrambled to their feet, looking at their sister with a fearful glance.

"Return to the realm." The mechanical voice ordered as it crackled from Phoebe's mouth, "You have fulfilled your use. Now go!" The voice echoed as voltage began to spark and zap in the middle Halliwell's eyes.

With a consenting growl, the creature suddenly leaped into the air. Clouds gathered in the sky almost instantly, covering the sun and blanketing the city in darkness within seconds. A menacing rumble of thunder seemed to vibrate through the ground, making the road underneath the witches feet begin to shake and tremble. They had to turn away and shield their eyes as two thin bolts of lightning tore through the sky, screaming towards the being that was in midair at the time. It was struck violently, before disappearing completely, presumably returning to wherever it had come from.

Phoebe fell to her knees and let out a roar deep from her throat. Thin bolts of lightning shot from her eyes, hitting a point on the road as another streak of white hot electricity twisted and coiled from her mouth, dancing in the air for one moment before shooting towards where the other two bolts of electricity were gathering. The voltage disappeared from the witch's eyes, signaling that Phoebe was back. She swayed on her knees for a few seconds before falling back. Piper caught her just in time and helped her to her feet.

A car sped out the mouth of the tunnel all of a sudden. The driver was in complete awe of what she was seeing. Phoebe recognized her as the woman that had been killed along with her daughter in her premonition. She hit Paige's arm rapidly, her younger sister finally getting the message and gesturing at the vehicle while saying a command. The car was devoured in a flurry of orbs just as a bolt of lightning flew from the heavens and struck the ground, scorching it just as the orbs disappeared.

A figure was beginning to form in the centre of the lightning. A loud clap of thunder left the Charmed Ones with a ringing sound in their ears as a being descended from the epicenter of the storm in the sky. The first thing any of them saw was the massive hammer that resided in the person's hand. As it got closer, Phoebe could see it was a man. He was adorned in thick golden armour that looked as if it had been carved by angels, as it seemed to tell a story of battles long ago. The part of him that wasn't covered in armour was his midsection, where a thick silver belt was strapped around his waist. The emblem on the front seemed to exude a certain power and respect; it was a scene depicting another epic battle. Whoever this being was, he was ancient.

He landed on the lightning-burnt ground softly; the clank of his iron boots the only thing signifying contact with the ground. He held his hammer at his side, smacking the hilt down on the ground and balancing his weapon carefully. Long strawberry blonde hair flowed down his back, accompanied by the short beard that surrounded his mouth.

"Greetings, guardian of Magni…" He said, his voice deep and dripping with power and authority. His electrifying blue eyes bore into Phoebe's skull as he spoke, "I have at last arrived to relieve you of your duty. I apologize for your having to wait two mortal years, but conjuring oneself from the Thunder Realm isn't as easy as it used to be." The three of them gave him a confused expression. "Where is the child? I would have thought you would bring him to our summit."

"Who the hell is Magni?" Paige hissed to Phoebe, before cocking her head and changing her question, "Actually, better yet, who the frickin' hell is this guy?" She whispered to both her sisters, earning irritated glances from both siblings, "What? It's a fair question!" The witchlighter argued.

"And if we knew the answer, do you think would be standing here with our jaws on the ground?" Piper spat, instantly shushing her youngest sister and turning back to the being, "Who are you?" She questioned with a confident tone, although her voice masked her true fears.

He looked between all three of them, "I do not believe that one of Magni's guardians has forgotten who she serves. But for your benefit, and so that you know what kind of power you are in the company of, I shall tell you. I am Thor, God of thunder and fighter of filthy race that all themselves giants."

"God…?" Phoebe whispered in disbelief. Was this truly the force that had possessed both her and Brennan for the past seven months? And if he really was so powerful, why had it taken him so long to come here? And who was Magni? A pounding headache suddenly began to make her temples throb as she crumbled under the unknown.

"Now, if you would retrieve Magni and pass him over to me, I shall return the Thunder Realm and wait for the day when you are able to cross back over and return home for your efforts." Thor commanded, his brow creasing in impatience. Something told Phoebe that she shouldn't anger a God.

"Wait a minute…" She breathed, "Two years… Are you talking about _Connor_?" Phoebe questioned, her heart beginning to beat faster as blood roared in her ears, waiting for an answer.

The god smiled, "Ah yes… Connor. That be his mortal name. Please bring him to me so I can take him back to where he truly belongs." Thor replied simply, not aware of the crushing blow of fear he had just delivered to all three Charmed Ones.

Phoebe's eyes flashed angrily as her cheeks reddened with rage, "You're not taking my son away." She commanded, frowning at the god who was demanding that she should just hand over Connor.

"Of course, after two years of him being in your care, it's only natural for a bond to have formed. I shall give you until the stroke of twelve to say your farewell. Until then, I shall take my leave…" Thor announced, a flicker of suspicion in his voice at what Phoebe had declared, before there was a bright flash and the thunder god had vanished in a bolt of lightning.

* * *

Connor sat in the attic, grinning obliviously as he ran his trains back and forth across the wooden floorboards. The two year old was unaware that the five crystals of dark matter that surrounded him were the only thing standing in between him and his so called "father". Phoebe was sitting right next to him on the floor, the Book of Shadows open in lap. She shook her head at a page and tapped the illustration of Thor with her finger.

"I think I've found what triggered my premonition. This was on the back of the page I was about to flip," She announced to Paige, who was sitting at the table with her laptop, looking up various intricate diagrams of how to draw protection pentacles. "Since when were gods in the Book of Shadows?"

The witchlighter shrugged, "We've only had it for a month. I swear I think that new info gets added to that thing magically every time we need to know something. What does it say?" She walked past the dark matter; it didn't repel her as she wasn't seen as a threat to the people on the inside.

"Nothing, it just says that Thor was… is…" She scowled, "One of the most powerful gods in the Scandinavian pantheon. His hammer is called Mjollnir, and it literally means 'that which smashes'. The big silver belt is called Megingjardhr. All of that summing up to he's going to be tough to beat."

"Anything that sheds light on the Magni thing?"

"Um…" She scanned down the page, her eyebrows raised at what she read before reciting it to Paige, "'In Norse mythology, Magni was a son of Thor and Jarnsaxa. He was the god of strength and was the only thing in existence stronger than his father, and Magni was the only one who could lift Mjollnir Thor's Hammer, besides his father. He is commonly depicted carrying Mjollnir.' And there's a neat little picture of some big god who is _not_ my son, carrying a hammer."

Paige gave her a sympathetic look, "Sweetie, why don't I get you some pillows and you can have a lie down in here? You look exhausted. Since when have you been awake? About five this morning? Have a sleep, you and Connor are safe in the crystals, and you'll be even safer once I have this pentacle drawn."

"And Piper doesn't mind you getting chalk all over her floor?" Phoebe smirked

"I think she's a whole lot more concerned about Connor being here after midnight. Pheebs, we're not going to let some God with woman's hair, a big hammer, and a shiny belt, take away your son. I promise you…" Paige assured her, placing a comforting hand on her sister's shoulder.

Phoebe ran a hand through her hair, letting out a sigh and smiling at the witchlighter, "What time is it?" She asked wearily, glancing at Paige's watch which was hard to read upside down and when sleep deprived.

"Just after ten." She replied, flinching at the clap of thunder and the sudden flash of lightning that illuminated the attic for a millisecond. Paige sighed angrily, making a face at the dark stormy sky outside as rain pelted the windows, "Do you think he's doing that intentionally just to scare us?"

"I don't know…" Phoebe brushed off the pointless question, looking at her energetic son and stroking his hair lovingly with a bittersweet expression, "What did he do to deserve this…? To be thrown into such a dangerous world?" She asked, on the verge of tears.

Paige chose not to answer. She stood up, "I'm gonna go downstairs and get the chalk to do the pentacle. But first, pillows and blankets!" She shouted into the air, making a gesture and causing the desired items to orb in on the floor, "You get some rest, okay?" The witchlighter waited for her sister to nod in agreement, before walking out of the room.

Phoebe quietly made a make-shift bed out of the things that Paige had orbed to her. Wordlessly, she shifted Connor next to her and lay down. The toddler, somehow sensing what a state his mother was in, lost his energy and became as tired as she was. Phoebe stroked his head lovingly, kissing him on the cheek and pulling him closer, her eyelids drooping with fatigue as she whispered into his ear.

"Mommy's not going to let anything happen to you… ever…"

* * *

"That's the pentacle drawn." Paige announced as she walked into the kitchen, waving a piece of worn down chalk, "I felt a little guilty about waking up Phoebe when it was done, but she'll be safer in that when in the dark matter cage." She frowned when she saw Piper staring out the window, looking at the moisture on the glass left from the rain that continued to lash it, "Why are you doing the dishes?"

She shrugged, turning around to reveal that she was obsessively drying a dinner plate, "What else can I do? I mean, really." Piper snapped glumly, "We're dealing with Gods. Am I the only one that's worried about the fact that he could probably vaporize us with a wave of his hand?"

Paige stayed silent, sighing as she slouched into a stool at the island in the middle of the kitchen, "No… you're not the only one that's worried…" She put a hand on her forehead, propping herself up with her elbow, "Why did he even want Connor in the first place? I mean, I know that Phoebe used to sleep around a bit, but I think even she would notice if she was doing it with a guy who's almost double her height!"

"That's disgusting!" Piper scolded, turning back to the sink and picking up another plate, "But you have a point, the only thing I can think of is that somehow… Connor's got Magni's powers. The whole Child of Storms thing, maybe that's the true meaning of it…"

"… We're gonna do everything we can, right? Even with the threat of being vaporized with the wave of a hand." Paige asked uncertainly.

Piper seemed to hesitate before answering, "Of course."

As if a direct question of her loyalty, a crash was heard upstairs along with an aggravated roar, "Piper! Paige!" Phoebe screamed from the attic. A crackling noise that sounded like lightning was heard from the top floor. He was trying to break down the pentacle's shield.

"What time is it?" Piper asked fearfully.

"Midnight…" Paige announced as she shot to her feet, "On the dot,"

* * *

Phoebe stood up, turning her back to the electrical assault that Thor was inflicting on the shield that the pentacle had raised to defend its inhabitants. She held Connor close to her chest, protecting him from the harsh light and the imminent breach of their protection. The lightning stopped coming, Phoebe turned back around to see the thunder god staring into her eyes with a red face of pure rage.

"How dare you raise this pathetic barrier in order to keep me from my child!" He bellowed, holding out his hand and summoning his hammer to his palm in a violent flash of lightning, "You will not defeat me."

"You can't _have_ him!" Phoebe spat back, a white globe of psionic energy appearing in front of her forehead before flying towards the god. The blast hit Thor's head, causing him to groan slightly in pain before looking at her with an even angrier look.

"Hey!"

Thor spun around, seeing Piper and Paige standing in the doorway with determined looks on their faces. The eldest witch threw out her hands, only being able to create a pitiful explosion on the god's armour and don't even leaving a trace of a scorch mark. It was Paige's turn, she swiped her arm through the air across her chest, attempting to hurl him telekinetically into the wall, but he only stumbled to the side slightly, smirking at the two witches.

"I have an unworldly resistance to witchcraft." He grinned, thinking he had won.

Piper cocked her head, frowning, "Well, you may have, but the floor doesn't," She commented sweetly, before gesturing at the floor underneath Thor's feet. The wood was blasted apart immediately, causing him to fall through the floor with an undignified yelp and crash to the lower level with a thud.

"C'mon!" Piper urged to her younger sister, making Phoebe walk quickly towards her two siblings while keeping an eye on the hole in the floor.

There was a flash of lightning just as Phoebe made it to Piper and Paige. Thor stood next to the pedestal where the Book of Shadows sat. He raised his arm, the electricity in his hand hummed as it charged up to a blast strong enough to take out all three witches and Connor. Piper gritted her teeth, blasting the floor again, making the god momentarily vanish and allowing them a chance to orb out.

* * *

The four of them reappeared in the living room of Phoebe and Brennan's house. No lights were on, as those who lived in the house hadn't been in all day, so the only thing that lit up the place was the blinding flash of lightning every now and again.

"What are gonna do?" Paige asked urgently, "We don't have the power to slow him down, let alone kill him!"

"Well, we need to think of something fast. He's gonna be on our tails in a matter of seconds." Piper replied, putting her hands in her pockets in an attempt to hide the fact that they were shaking with fear.

Phoebe let a growl escape from her throat as she put a hand to her forehead, "Damn…" She snarled to herself, looking into her son's eyes as lightning illuminated the living room for a brief period, "We need to do something, anything! I can't lose my son!" The witch yelled at her two siblings, both of whom had faces like thunder. There was nothing any of them could do.

Another flash lit up the area, but it had been caused by Thor's arrival. The three of them spun around, each releasing assaults from their respective powers that proved just as fruitless as the last time, and Piper's strategy of blasting the floor wouldn't work, as she knew Phoebe's house had nothing under the ground floor.

"Give him to me… NOW!" The god bellowed, a clap of thunder accompanying his booming voice as he locked eyes with Phoebe. The only woman who was left in his way.

"You can't have him!" She screamed, another psionic blast appearing above her eyes before flying towards Thor, who, this time, didn't even seem to be fazed by the attack like he had the previous time. Without a word, he made a gesture with his hands, causing Phoebe to swear loudly with surprise and fear as Connor vanished from her arms in a bolt of lightning that struck the two year old, making him reappear in Thor's arms.

The witch took a brief moment to look between her arms and her nemesis, "NO!" She bellowed, making to run towards Thor to confront him directly.

But the god merely threw out his arm, knocking the three sisters to the floor with a wave of voltage that caused the air to ripple. Thor smirked with a triumphant glint in his eyes as he surveyed the downed witches on the ground before disappearing with a crack of thunder and a blinding bolt of white lightning with Connor screaming in his armour covered arms.

Piper groaned as she raised her head off the ground, blinking a few times and frowning with confusion, "Uh… Why are on the floor?" She asked her two sisters, who were now beginning to come around.

Paige sat up; looking around with the same expression Piper was wearing before questioning her older sister, "… And why are all the lights off? Jeez, Pheebs, I know you live in house by yourself with Brennan gone, but you should still make an effort," She began to stand up, helping Phoebe to her feet as she did the same with Piper.

"Um… yeah… I should…" The middle Halliwell murmured, looking around the living room with the look of as if something wasn't right.

"Are you okay, honey?" Piper asked with concern, knowing that her sister was still probably saddened by the departure of her husband that morning.

She nodded in response, still looking around, "Yeah…I'm fine… I just… feel as if I'm forgetting something or… leaving something behind…" She thought about some more before shrugging, "Oh well, must not be that important." The witch finally decided with one last doubtful look around the house.

"You wanna stay at the Manor tonight? Pam's room is free now." Piper smirked with a bittersweet expression, still sore from their niece's abrupt departure from San Francisco just an hour after they had suffered the loss of Brennan.

Phoebe nodded slowly, "Yeah… okay. I mean, there's no reason not to."

* * *

Uh oh! There's a bit of a cliffhanger for you all! But you're going to have to wait till the sequel to find out what happens. Will Phoebe get Connor back? Will Paige ever make it down the aisle? Just what has Piper spent most of life trying to atone for? How will Pam deal by herself in New York against the forces of evil? Everything will be revealed in **"Their Cross To Bear"**!

"**THEIR CROSS TO BEAR":** A year has passed since the events of "United As Three". Phoebe has remained oblivious to the fact that her son Connor was taken from her by his magical father, until Lorna, who has somehow remained unaffected by the erasing of Connor's existence, gives Phoebe a premonition of what truly happened the day Brennan and Pamela left. The Underworld has been in disarray since Satanos's vanquish, allowing Paige and Aidan to enjoy their time as a family with the twins, but with time, Paige's cold feet get worse, will she conquer marriage? Piper is haunted by a dark act from her past that could destroy everything in her life, including the trust of those who always have thought she was perfect and homely. Pamela has changed drastically during her first year as an NYU college student, but is it for the better? Katrina, now earned back her place on the higher realm, begins to train a certain redhead as she learns to harness her new mantel of power. The arrival of mysterious yet stunningly beautiful magical mercenary sheds more light on Phoebe's future child, who may not be as pure as first thought…

"**Their Cross To Bear"** Chapter 1: **"Here Once More…"** will be up soon!


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